


Cards on the Table

by fbatwoman



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh
Genre: (Light) Masochism, A wicked game of truth, Anal Sex, Bachelor Party, Biting, Communication Issues, Fluff, M/M, May or may not stay in vegas, Poker, Prideshipping, Sex, Slow Burn, Smut, Some Crack, The whole gang is here, Unresolved Sexual Tension, lots of swearing, mild homophobia, what happens in vegas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2018-12-18 23:04:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11884719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fbatwoman/pseuds/fbatwoman
Summary: Yami thinks he's got living in the 21st century figured out - until Yugi invites Kaiba to his bachelor party without warning him. Shenanigans and disclosures ensue during a high-stakes poker game. Can Yami get Kaiba to fold before Yami reveals too much about himself?





	1. Dead Man’s Hand

There was no one in the world Yami trusted more than his partner and best friend Yugi Mutou.

Yami needed to remind himself of this fact constantly in the months leading up to Yugi’s wedding to Anzu.

Oh, Yami approved of the marriage. He loved Anzu. He loved Yugi and Anzu together. He didn’t even mind that Yugi and Anzu’s wedding would be in Las Vegas to accommodate Anzu’s performances at the Nevada Ballet.

What strained Yami’s trust in Yugi to its maximum was when Yugi had said, “You know, I’d love you to organize my bachelor’s party, aibou!”  
  
Yami couldn’t think of a worse candidate to organize a bachelor party than himself: a former ancient spirit from the dark ages of egypt who hadn’t been a member of the 20th century for more than five years. A week of internet searches after Yugi’s request had left him scarred for life. Not to mention all those brochures Jounouchi decided to slip him.  
  
Yet somehow, Yami had managed to book a bar, finalize a guest list and make sure there was PG-13 entertainment (it was Yugi he was throwing the bachelor’s party for, not Duke). All without ordering himself a new sarcophagus.   
  
All he needed to do, Yami told himself as he took a seat in the spacious booth, was survive the night. And crowd control.  
  
“No strippers, right, Jounouchi?” Yami reminded his friend. “You didn’t contact any of the people on those brochures…?”  
  
Jounouchi cackled. “I solemnly swear that I did not contact any of the people on the brochures. Relax, Yami! Like I would try anything after that talking-to you gave me last month.”  
  
“What brochures?” Yugi asked, eyes wide.  
  
“Don’t ask.” Yami had burned them and scattered the ashes to the wind.  
  
“Oh, okay,” Yugi beamed. “I’m so excited for tonight! Thanks for organizing this, Yami. It means more than I can say that you did all of this for me.”  
  
Suddenly Yami’s stress lightened. He felt the corners of his mouth lift despite himself.   
  
“By the way,” Yugi said, turning to Jounouchi. “Just so you know. Seto is coming.”  
  
The stress came crashing back along with a bucketful of panic. “Sorry, what?”  
  
“So behave, will you?” Yugi continued.  
  
“Relax, Yug’! It’s your night! I’m not going to make a fuss,” Jounouchi said, waving his arms. “Besides, I know you two are friends. Sort of.”  
  
Yami, unlike Jounouchi, had not yet processed this information. “Can we rewind to the part where Kaiba’s coming?”  
  
“Did I not tell you?” Yugi asked, surprised. “I thought I’d mentioned it. I invited him to the wedding.”  
  
That was not enough for Yami. The wedding made a certain amount of sense; Yugi and Kaiba had shared - well, they’d shared experiences, if not friendship. They’d _all_ shared experiences. But this wasn’t the wedding. “And you invited him to the bachelor party?”  
  
“Sure!”  
  
Yami figured out what wasn’t clicking. “And he said yes?”  
  
“Of course he did,” Yugi replied. “We’ve worked together a lot, the last couple years. And we get along better than we used to. Hey!” Yugi said, on a new track. “Maybe you two can catch up. You haven’t seen him for what, four years? Five?”  
  
Five years, three months and twenty days, Yami corrected. The exact number of days since he’d won the Ceremonial Duel in Egypt, and chosen to stay in this life. The exact number of days since he’d separated from Yugi and acquired a body of his own.  
Not that Yami was counting.  
  
Somehow, Yami doubted they were going to “catch up” over drinks at Yugi’s bachelor party. He and Kaiba had never been great at small talk.  
  
It wasn’t, Yami reminded himself, that he’d been avoiding Kaiba since Egypt. Avoidance was a very strong word. It would imply that Kaiba was making overtures, that Kaiba was around. But it wasn’t like Yami had made overtures either. And it was true that Yami had deliberately… avoided… going to places where Kaiba might show up.  
So maybe he’d been avoiding Kaiba.  
  
This was going to be a disaster.  
  
“Did I hear something about elephants when I was walking in?” Honda asked as he slid in the seat next to Jounouchi's.  
  
“There’s an elephant show in a couple of hours,” Yugi confirmed. “Also a fireworks show and acrobatics? The bar’s got this performance space on the other side of the dance arena. We’ll have to move to see them, though.”  
  
“Vegas, dude! I love it! I can’t believe Anzu gets to work here.” Jounouchi chimed in. “ I won like, fifty dollars at the slots.”  
  
Yami glanced at the slot machines, which flanked the dance floor on two sides. The bar was approximately the size of a football stadium: to get to the booth, they’d passed through craps tables, a couple blackjack dealers, a raging dance party (“a dance arena,” the bar billed it), and around a miniature pool. Yami suspected a hotel/casino wasn’t Yugi’s first choice of locale for a wedding but Anzu’s job made a Vegas wedding a priority. Wrangling a position in a corps de ballet had been difficult enough, she’d explained to Yami, without immediately requesting time off in the middle of performance season for a destination wedding.  
  
Yami grinned. Anzu could probably have requested a shotgun wedding during intermission and Yugi would have agreed. It was the “who” that mattered to his best friend. Not the “when.” Not even the “how.”  
  
The smile slipped off Yami’s face when he spotted Kaiba making his way towards their table. His heart chose that moment to jump to an uncomfortably athletic pace.   
  
The advantage of controlling the guest list, Yami thought, was that he was supposed to be prepared for this. He was supposed to have time to prepare for _this _.__ But perhaps there was no good way to prepare for seeing Kaiba, his former rival, never-quite friend, again. _ _  
__  
Yami had expected him to be wearing one of his extravagant dueling outfits, a coat fanning out behind him in a blaze of white. But the CEO of KaibaCorp was dressed casually, in slim-fitting black pants and a black-button down shirt rolled up to his elbows. Instead of his usual briefcase, he carried a shoulder bag. He might have passed for a student, or a young professional.  
  
“Yugi,” Kaiba said, reaching the table. “Sorry I’m late.”  
  
Kaiba exchanged polite hello’s with Jounouchi and Honda, then looked to Yami. One eyebrow quirked ever-so-slightly up. “Yami. Good to see you.”  
  
Yami’s voice was remarkably level, despite his heartbeat. “Likewise.”  
  
Kaiba nodded and turned back to Yugi.  
  
Well. That was anti-climatic.  
  
It seemed that Kaiba didn’t intend to make things awkward. That was good. That was very good, Yami thought, his eyes not leaving Kaiba’s face as the man took a seat and started talking to Yugi.  
  
If the lack of awkwardness is so good, Yami asked himself, why did he feel so disappointed? Yami hardly wanted Kaiba to confront him about the… avoidance. Or anything else.  
  
He’d forgotten exactly how blue Kaiba’s eyes were in the last five years. They were the exact blue of the sky as it transitioned from sunset to night. The blue of the deepest-fathomed ocean. And as impenetrable as ever.   
  
He shook his head. Focus, Yami. Bachelor party. Wedding. Not the time for emotional upheaval. Not the time to think about Kaiba's eyes. Why was he -  
  
His reverie was interrupted by the arrival of - thanks be to all the Gods - the waitress. Alcohol. That was the solution. Everything was better with alcohol.  
Yami had intended to pace himself - he went out drinking rarely - but the turmoil of yawning feelings re-awakened by Kaiba’s appearance changed his mind. “Whiskey, please,” he ordered, when the waitress pointed at him. “Neat.”  
  
Yugi, who knew Yami’s drinking habits as well as anyone, raised both eyebrows from the other side of the table. Yami raised an eyebrow right back.  
  
“Hey,” the waitress said, looking back and forth between Yugi and Yami. Yami braced himself, knowing what was coming. “Oh my god. Are you two twins?”  
  
“Actually,” Honda said, throwing his arm around Yugi and flashing a smile. “Yugi’s my twin. Can’t you see the resemblance? The spiky hair… the eyes… the voice?!”  
  
“They’re fraternal twins,” Yami added.  
  
The waitress looked between the three of them with uncertain eyes, clearly wondering if she was being made fun of. “Seriously, though, you two look exactly - ”  
  
Kaiba cleared his throat. “I’ll have an old fashioned.”  
  
“Oh right!” She jotted down his order, distracted from Yami and Yugi’s appearance. Yami felt his shoulders relax fractionally. He and Yugi caught plenty of intrusive comment from strangers when they were out in public together; Yami loathed dealing with them.  
  
“And I’ll have a beer,” Jounouchi added. “What do you have?”  
  
“Oooh, me too!” Honda said, leaning forward to listen to the waitress rattle off the bar’s options.  
  
“Looks like we got here right on time,” Duke said, appearing with the last stragglers - Mako and Bakura - just as Jounouchi and Honda got their orders in. “Could I get a cosmo and two martinis?”  
  
“Are you seriously ordering for us? I don’t even like martinis,” Mako complained.  
  
“Those are all for me, Mako,” Duke said.  
  
“How much are you planning to drink, Duke?” Yugi asked, laughing. “I’d like you to be awake and alive for the wedding tomorrow.”  
  
“I’ll be alive!” Duke defended himself. “Mako promised to throw some fish on me tomorrow morning if I don’t wake up. Besides, I drink three martinis a night just as a start. That’s how you get the party started, right, Yugi?”  
  
“My parties tend to involve a lot more dungeons and a lot less alcohol,” Yugi replied.  
  
Duke grinned. “Dungeons! Now we’re talking.”

“He’s not talking about those kind of dungeons, Duke. Get your mind out of the gutter.” Gods, was Yami going to have to keep half the party on a leash?   
  
“What kind of dungeons - ”  
  
“Dungeons with 20-sided dice, Devlin. And a couple dragons. Those kind.” Kaiba interjected.

Yami couldn't resist. "You own a gaming store, Duke! You invented a dice-based game." 

"That doesn't mean I'm some kind of expert - "  
  
Yami rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Across the table, Kaiba caught his eye and half-smiled. For a moment, it was like nothing had changed. 

Except for Yami's racing pulse. 

“Bloody Mary, please,” Mako said. “Bakura, what are you getting?”  
  
“I’m getting a mimosa,” Bakura announced.  
  
“Seriously, Bakura, a mimosa?” Jounouchi asked. “This isn’t brunch. It’s a bachelor party.”  
  
‘I will not be shamed for my taste in alcoholic beverages,” Bakura said, taking a seat next to Yami, who scooted over to let the latecomers grab places near him.  
  
“It barely qualifies as alcohol”  
  
“It has more alcohol than whatever beer you and Honda got!”  
  
“Anway,” Yugi cut into the argument. “This isn’t much of a bachelor party. Yami hasn’t arranged for any naked ladies in cakes or strippers or confetti. Right?”  
  
Yami winked at his best friend. “Confetti? Never without your permission.”  
  
“There aren’t even party hats,” Yugi added, smiling. “Drink whatever you want, Bakura.”  
  
Bakura nodded. “It’s a delicious beverage. I shall enjoy every sip.”  
  
“Did someone say party hats?” Mai Kujaku asked, draping herself over the top of Yugi’s chair. She grinned at the group’s startled expressions’ and dropped a conical hat on top of Yugi’s head. “Only brought one, sorry.”  
Yami, who knew the exact guest list - except, apparently, for the addition of Kaiba - was only surprised that Mai was less than an hour late.

“What?” Mai said. “Close your mouth, Jounouchi.” She emerged from behind Yugi’s chair, wearing a fitted tuxedo and an undone black bow-tie, and dropped a present into Yugi’s lap. “Did you expect me to go to Anzu’s bachelorette party?”  
  
“Well. Yeah. Kind of,” Jounouchi said.  
  
“I asked her first,” Yugi replied.  
  
“Exactly. Don’t be a sexist,” Mai said. “Yugi and I are closer friends than Anzu and I ever were, and she’s doing some kind of spa night anyways. Do I seem like I would enjoy a spa?” She paused a moment to let them contemplate the question. “No. I do not enjoy steam and getting mud put on my face. I’m here for the alcohol, the naked women, and for one of my closest friend’s last nights of freedom. Yugi, let me know if I can pay for a lap dance.”  
  
“For the last time, Mai, this isn’t a strip club,” Yami said, amused. “Just buy him a drink, will you?”  
  
Mai sighed. “I am underappreciated in my time.”  
  
The waitress returned with the drinks, for which Yami was grateful.  
  
“Pabst blue ribbon?” Bakura asked Jounouchi. “And you’re making fun of what I’m drinking?”  
  
“Hey! It’s the drink of the people! I am feeling what the people are feeling, Bakura! The people in America!”  
  
Yugi gasped. “Don’t say “ _in america_ ”! You’re going to bring the wrath of Bandit Keith down on us.”  
  
“I didn’t!”  
  
“You know how he is,” Yami said. “That man is uncanny. You just say his name or his catchphrase, and he shows up - ”  
  
Yugi leaned back in his seat. “I’m just saying, if he shows up at my wedding, Jounouchi invoked him. You all saw it.”  
  
“You should open that,” Mai said, changing the subject and pointing to the present she’d unceremoniously dumped on Yugi’s lap.  
  
“Are we doing bachelor party presents?” Mako asked. “I only got a wedding present. It’s dishes. I got you a set of dishes.”  
  
“Are there fishes on it?”  
  
“Oh, you’re so clever. Are there dice on your dishes, Devlin?  
  
“I think some people are just overeager,” Yami said “Or double-dipping. Don’t worry about it, Mako.”  
  
Yugi, meanwhile, was pulling something out of Mai’s box. Yami caught a glimpse of metal and bright pink fur before Yugi hastily stuffed it back in, crimson-faced. “Mai! What the hell!”  
  
“What! It’s a bachelor’s-day gift!”  
  
“In some cases, the gift-givers may just be fans of public humiliation,” Kaiba commented. Yami snorted. “Were those novelty handcuffs?”  
  
Yugi glared at him.  
  
“I ask only out of curiosity,” Kaiba said. “My curiosity is as pure and innocent as the driven snow.   
  
“What am I supposed to do with these?” Yugi asked.  
  
Mai raised an eyebrow. “Yugi, do you really want me to explain what you’re supposed to do with them?”  
  
“Yeah, you see Yugi, one of the partners puts on the handcuffs- ”  
  
“And so you have to decide whether you prefer to be tied up or to tie someone else up,” Tritan added. “I think you can also switch.”  
  
“I mean, roles in relationships are so fluid nowadays,” Mai added. “Whose to say that the handcuffer won’t be the handcuffee the next day?”  
  
"Good point, Kujaku. People are so quick to make assumptions based on gender or physical appearance," Kaiba said.   
  
“I can’t believe any of you people are my friends,” Yugi moaned, dropping his head in his hands.  
  
“Generally, you use them during sex, but I suppose you could use them during everyday activities,” Jounouchi continued.  
  
“Cooking, baking”  
  
“Gardening, driving, writing,” Mako added.  
  
“Laundry.”  
  
Yugi glared at the entire table, then drained his margarita. “I need way more alcohol. How many more presents do I have to deal with?”  
  
They weren’t - thank the Gods - all that bad. Bakura gave Yugi an album filled with photos of the gang, with an emphasis on photos of Yugi and Anzu in the early years, before they’d started dated. Yami had gotten Yugi a gift that embarrassed him, but that he knew would delight the recipient: a custom-made Polymerization card with artists’ rendering of Anzu and Yugi replacing the images of the monsters.  
  
‘This is terrible!” Mai said when she saw it, and the usual suspects made terrible jokes when Yugi passed it around, but Yami had seen Yugi’s face light up when he opened the card. That was all that mattered.  
  
“The artwork is good,” was Kaiba’s only comment when he saw it. “It’s not Pegasus’s, is it?"  
  
Yami was surprised Kaiba could tell. “No. I found an independent painter. She does fanart of duel monsters.”  
  
“It’s beautiful work,” Kaiba said. ‘The transition between the card and the art is seamless. If I didn’t know it was an independent production, I would think it was professional.”  
  
Yami felt blood rising in his cheeks and looked away quickly. He’d forgotten what it was like to get Kaiba’s approval. Even in their duels, in their fights, over the years of their rivalry, Yami knew he’d sought it as doggedly as he’d sought any physical victory. But if victory was possible, approval proved much more illusive.  
  
What was it about Kaiba that made three words from him matter more than an entire conversation from his closest friends?  
  
“Polymerization is good wordplay,” Yugi commented. “There aren’t a lot of word jokes you can make with duel monsters and romance - ”  
  
“Or sex,” Duke interrupted.  
  
“Is that all you think about?” Yugi asked.  
  
“What about “Card Ejector?”” Mai asked. “Ejector? Get it?”  
  
Everyone groaned.  
  
“Get out,” Yami said.  
  
“Absolutely not,” Mai replied, sipping her cognac. “Get on my level.”  
  
Honda raised his hand. “What about “Pot of Greed”?”  
  
Duke scratched his head. “I’m not seeing it.”  
  
“Well, what if I filled your pot of greed… with seed?”  
  
He paused. “Get it? Seed? As in, semen?”  
  
Kaiba rolled his eyes straight up to the ceiling.  
  
“Get. Out,” Yami repeated.  
  
“Sword breaker. The sword is the penis,” Bakura said.  
  
“Violent feminism,” Mai said. “I’ll accept it.”  
  
“Swords of - ” Kaiba paused and took a sip of his drink for dramatic effect. “ _Revealing_ light. _”  
_  
Yugi burst out laughing. “Okay, that wasn’t terrible.”  
  
“I told you guys we were going to the strip club eventually,” Mai said. "Revealing. That's terrible."  _  
_  
Kaiba cut his eyes at Yami. “Well, Yami? Do I need to get out?”  
  
Yami took a breath to control his heartbeat. Those eyes - that tone of voice - in any other circumstance, if it weren’t Kaiba, if it weren’t a man, if it weren’t a man he had known for five years and had fought with for longer, he would have _sworn_ Kaiba was flirting with him.  
“Borderline. Watch yourself.”  
  
Then, unable to resist a jab: “I didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”  
  
“Oh, it’s hidden right behind my good mood and camaraderie.”  
  
That got a laugh out of nearly everyone, after which Yugi jumped up and said “mind CRUSH!”  
  
Yami threw a napkin at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Dead Man's Hand refers to poker hand with a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. According to legend, this was the hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot in the back of the head. The identity of the fifth card is unknown. 
> 
> Note on names:  
> \- I watched the show as a tiny, tiny child, and for some reason, Duke and Mako's names are unchangeable to me. I can transpose Tea into Anzu and Tristan into Honda without problem, but as soon as I try to think of Duke as Otogi, my brain short-circuits. I apologize for the mixture of original flavor and americanized names.


	2. Community Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title Explanation:  
> Community cards are the cards shared by all players in a certain forms of poker (for example, Texas Hold 'Em). Poker players must create the best hand out of both their own cards (their private cards), and the shared cards (community cards) at the center of the table. Since everyone shares some of the cards, the strategy is not just about who has the best resources, but about who exploits the shared resources to their best advantage.

Honda and Jounouchi announced that they’d gotten Yugi a _joint_ gift. Yami started worrying as soon as he saw three waiters pushing a cart over to their table.  
Nothing good ever came of carts.

“Coordinating a bachelor’s party is harder than taking down a fucking dark god, I swear,” he muttered under his breath. If Jounouchi and Honda had hired strippers and smuggled them into the bar against Yugi’s wishes, Yami was going to have to revisit his vow against shadow games.

Jounouchi pulled the sheet off of the cart. “Voila!”

“Oh sweet mother of - ” Yami trailed off, staring at the abomination in front of them.

“It’s a cake!”

“It’s a cake?” Yugi asked, standing up. Yami couldn’t read the expression on his face. “It’s so… big.”

Big was not the word Yami would have chosen. Horrifying was the word he would have chosen. The cake - if cake it was - was an ten-foot tall, perfect replica of the Dark Magician, right down to the violet hat and the staff. The mimicry of Yugi’s favorite card was bad enough. But the icing on the cake was that the _literal_ icing on the cake was starting to melt, especially on the face. Which gave the Dark Magician an expression less stoic and mystical and more… horror movie doll in the fires of hell.

“And it’s vanilla,” Honda added. “With chocolate filling.”

“Did you guys make it?” Yugi asked. “It’s really… special. Thank you so much.”

If he was so fortunate as to meet Mahad again in the afterlife, Yami swore he would never tell him about this incident. His beloved friend did not need to know about the disrespect wrought by novelty cakes. 

“Oh god, no! We got it made special. For the bachelor boy,” Jounouchi said, opening his arms wide for effect.

Jounouchi frowned. “I said, for the BACHELOR BOY.”

Yugi looked at Jounouchi. “I heard you the first time?”

“No, not you - the BACHELOR BOY!”

Yami heard a dull thunk - then, to his horror, the Dark Magician’s head flew off and a scantily-clad woman wearing a Dark Magician Girl costume popped up from inside the cake, yelling “SURPRISE!”

Yugi screamed. Yami jumped to his feet; Bakura grabbed his cell phone. Mai’s mouth flew open.

“Surprise!” Honda said.

“What the hell, guys!” Yami said, pushing past Bakura and Duke. “I specifically said no nudity!”

“Yeah, but she’s wearing a costume!”

“That costume is covering more of her shoulder than it is of… anything of importance,” Kaiba pointed out from behind them.

Yugi was covering his eyes. “Uh, guys, you obviously went to a lot of work with this, and I really appreciate it, don’t get me wrong, but - wait - is she singing Katy Perry’s “Roar”?”

She was, indeed, singing Katy Perry’s “Roar.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s part of the bit.”

Yami was trying to decide whether to laugh or to cry. Both seemed below his dignity, but both seemed absolutely necessary at the moment, given that there was a scantily clad Dark Magician Girl standing in a headless Dark Magician cake singing “Roar.”

“Jounouchi,” Yami said. “Didn’t you say that you hadn’t contacted anyone in any of those brochures?”

“Oh yeah! She wasn’t in any of the brochures.”

“That’s very much not what I meant!” Yami felt his temper rising.

“Well you said - ”

“Are you men going to stop bickering and actually do something useful?” Mai demanded. When Yami and Jounouchi blinked at her, she sighed and straightened her jacket. “I see I’ll have to solve this problem myself.”

“And you’re gonna hear me Roaaaa-AAAAAAAAAH FUCK”

As the Dark Magician Girl moved into a better position, her foot caught on some of the _very_ slippery icing and she fell down seven feet of cake, right into Mai’s lap.

If Mai had had anything to do with her slipping in the first place, no one mentioned it.

“Thanks, Mai,” Yami whispered a few minutes later, helping Mai wipe purple icing off of her tuxedo. “I confess, I did not have a backup plan for that one. Although I probably should have guessed that Honda and Jounouchi would try something.”

“Don’t mention it,” Mai whispered back. She looked over to Yugi, who was herding people to a second table. The first one was now completely covered by the explosion of cake that resulted from the singer's fall.  “Just tell Yugi it was a second bachelor’s day gift, huh? I heard from Honda they were planning to have her sing the entire Katy Perry soundtrack.”

Yami decided not to point out that there was no such thing as “bachelor’s day.” Under the circumstances, it seemed churlish.

When Yami and Mai rejoined the table, Mai’s tuxedo mostly restored, Bakura was busy waving his phone in the air. “No, I shan’t be erasing it, Yugi! This is prime blackmail material!”

Yami remembered Bakura had pulled his phone out during the cake’s unveiling, and deduced that he’d filmed the entire debacle.

Fantastic. Another crisis.

“Come on, Bakura,” Duke said, a rare voice of reason. “It’s embarrassing. No one wants to watch that again.”

“Precisely! I shall keep it in handy for the next time one of you makes fun of my drink choices- ”

“I’ve never made fun of your mimosas,” Yugi pointed out.

Bakura frowned, considering this argument. “It would still be good material for Honda and Jounouchi, and anyways - ”

“You know that would end up plastered on some tabloids in japan with “King of Games Caught on a Bawdy Night Out Before his Wedding,” Yami objected. “You don’t want Anzu to deal with that, now do you?”

“I’m not planning to send it to the tabloids!”

“Oh, for - ” Kaiba swore under his breath. “Yugi. I assume you want that video erased?”

Yugi nodded. “That would be ideal.”

‘Great.” Kaiba pulled out his own phone and swept his fingers across the screen a few times. “Problem solved.”

Bakura frowned at his phone. “Wh - the - it’s gone! What did you do?!”

“Localized network disruption. Destroys any video taken within the last five minutes.” Kaiba pocketed his phone. “Yami’s right. It would have ended up at the front of a tabloid, whether you would have wanted it to or not.”

“Thanks, Kaiba.” Yugi looked relieved, while Bakura was still prodding at his phone, dumbfounded.

Jounouchi and Honda rejoined the table, having finished disposing of the Dark Magician Girl with a box of wet wipes, a slice of cake, and what they termed "the tip of the century." 

Yami hoped it really was "the tip of the century." The poor woman had been through enough. 

“It’s too bad she didn’t get to do ‘Fireworks,’” Honda said as he sat down. “She had a whole dance worked out for it.”

“Yeah, that was a real disappointment,” Yami replied, keeping his face straight. “Anyways, any more gifts? Mako? Duke?”

Kaiba was the last one with a “bachelor’s day” gift, as Mai termed it. He pulled out a perfectly flat metal circle from his shoulder bag, setting it in the center of their new table. It resembled nothing so much as an old-fashioned vinyl record, albeit with every groove flattened and polished to perfection.

“Nice saucer, Kaiba,” Jounouchi commented. Kaiba ignored him. He pressed two fingers to the center of the circle. The center depressed with an audible click; Kaiba sat back, crossing his arms.

For a few moments, nothing visible happened. Then ripples of white-blue spread across the circle, and the metal began to expand, growing thinner, lace-like, until a spider’s web of metal covered nearly two-thirds of the table. Duke rescued his martini before the spreading metal could topple it.

The white-blue ripples continued to move back and forth. Suddenly light began to coil upwards from the web, growing from the ripples, twisting around itself.

“What is this?” Yugi said from the other side of the table.

“A project made with Anzu’s collaboration,” Kaiba said. A neat dodge of the question. The light continued to climb, twining into even more elaborate shapes. It looked like fog, an enchanted mist in the middle of a Vegas bar. Yami stared as it grew to nearly his own height.

A breath later, and the fog separated, leaving only an image. Three dancers, arms in fourth position, backs arched. As orchestra music slowly built in the background, led by a flute, the dancers lifted onto pointe. The back two dancers slid into a kneeling position, while the front dancer - who Yami realized with shock was clearly Anzu - raised her leg into a back attitude.

“What is this?” Mai repeated over the hushed silence.

“It’s - this is last night’s performance of “The Jewels,” isn’t it?” Yugi asked. He was staring at his fiance, who was performing double pirouettes into turning soutenus. His eyes were so wide, Yami thought he might be on the verge of tears. “How did you get this? The image - ”

The image was crystalline. Yami could see the miniscule green stitches that made up the vines at the bottom of Anzu’s costume, the fine lines of exertion between her eyes and at the corners of her lips. He could hear the hushed fall of her ballet shoes as they touched the ground in the intricate footwork of the dance’s opening number - a noise Yami knew, from conversations with Anzu, that dancers strove to eliminate, but that Kaiba’s machine had still managed to pick up.

It was only a hologram. _Only_ a hologram. It didn’t feel like a hologram. In the way that Kaiba’s best holograms always did, it felt like a distillation of life itself. 

“Mostly CCTV,” Kaiba replied. “Anzu has a second disk.” He touched the edge of the laced metal. “She decides what performances she wants recorded and instructs her disk to capture those. The disk piggybacks onto onto close-captioned video signals and downloads them through - hm - let’s call it creative hacking. It recombines the videos into… this.”

Mako flinched backwards as one of the dancers did a coupe jete that came close to decapitating him.

“The image isn’t solid,” Kaiba said. “It disappears after a six-by-six foot space, and anything you touch will dissolve.”

“Where’s the sound coming from?” Yami asked.

“The speakers are embedded in the disk,” Kaiba answered, giving Yami some idea of how thin they must be. Then again, Yami suspected the disk must be enhancing the CCTV’s video and audio capabilities considerably - the image and sound were much better than any surveillance he’d seen. “Creative hacking,” indeed.

Jounouchi looked like he was about to say something, but Yami hushed him.

“Look at Yugi’s face,” Yami whispered. Yugi was entranced, head cradled in both hands, staring up at his future wife like he’d never seen anything like her. Jounouchi gulped and shut up.

And while Yugi watched Anzu, Yami watched Kaiba.

If Kaiba’s outfit was simple, his appearance was no less striking than it had ever been. His blue eyes cut as sharply, his smiles - rare and quick - were as enigmatic, and his energy… Yami couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Before, when they were rivals, Yami thought he kept an eye on Kaiba because he was worried about what Kaiba might do. Now, after years in the modern age in a body of his own, Yami knew better. Kaiba drew the eye because he had charisma. Real charisma, not the kind manufactured by publicity, but the kind of energy that smolders and forces you to look at it. The kind of energy that seems dangerous and forbidden. The kind of energy a fire has when it dares you to touch it. Kaiba wore that kind of power as casually as most men wore ties.

Yugi watched Anzu like he was enchanted. Kaiba looked at Anzu like an artist evaluating his own work; his eyes darted to every corner of the image, from the remnants of the fog to the hologram of the floor, to the edge of the dance. His eyes narrowed: spotting imperfections in the design, no doubt. And then Kaiba’s eyes turned to Yugi, and Kaiba’s expression softened slightly. Pleased at his friend’s evident pleasure.

Yami felt a wash of cold.

Only when Anzu and the dancers accompanying her had spun their way off-stage to the sound of cellos did Yugi sit back. The disk began to fold up.

“You mentioned sometime last year that you regretted missing so many of her performances, since you live apart” Kaiba said. “Since she’s never missed any of your duels. I know it’s not the same as a live performance - ”

 “It’s beautiful,” Yugi whispered. “I can’t thank you enough. I never imagined I would see her like this. Thank you so much, Seto. This must have taken a lot of work.”

“It’s nothing, really,” Kaiba said, putting the disk back in the bag. “Anzu’s the one doing the performance. The disk is just a vessel.” But Yami could hear a distinct tone of gratification under the usual impassivity in Kaiba’s voice.

Kaiba slid the shoulder bag across the table to Yugi. “There’s a manual in the side pocket, but it’s fairly self-explanatory. Just be careful around water. It should survive a rain shower, but if you dunk it in a bath for an hour, it might go a bit haywire." 

“Is this new KaibaCorp tech?” Bakura asked.

Kaiba shook his head. “Just a side project. KaibaCorp has enough launches this year without adding a holographic communication device to the list.” 

“Jesus, Kaiba! How come you’ll make stuff like that for Yugi, but not for me?” Jounouchi asked.

Kaiba's eyebrow quirked up. “Well, there’s a big difference between you and Yugi.”

“Yeah?”

“I actually like Yugi.”

Yami couldn’t help it - he laughed and promptly choked on his whiskey. 

“Yeah, but you didn’t like Yugi a couple years ago. Last time you saw him, didn’t you call him a “simple-minded child”?”

Yugi and Kaiba both laughed at the same time. “Good one, Jounouchi,” Yugi said. Jounouchi looked confused.

“Not one of my better insults. I’m sure I could come up with a better one given time. What about “leader of the dweeb patrol”? I thought that one was pretty good.” 

Yugi chuckled. “Seventy percent of your insults involved the word “dweeb.” You really should have gotten a thesaurus.”

Kaiba made a face. “Doesn’t work. Most synonyms for “dweeb” and “dork” make you sound like a Shakespearean villain. Buffon. Lout. Churl. Philistine. I sound like I’m about to propose a swordfight on behalf of the noble families of Verona.”

“I don’t believe this!” Jounouchi said. “You two, getting along - ”

“Shocking as it may seem to you, Katsuya, I do have the capacity to change my mind about people,” Kaiba said, leaning back from the table. “ I simply choose not to, most of the time.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m so rarely wrong.” Kaiba made a slight bow of the head towards Yugi, who grinned. “But I was wrong about Yugi.”

“And you’re okay with this?” Jounouchi asked Yugi.

Yugi shrugged. “Well. It would have been pretty hypocritical of me to make all those speeches about friendship - ”

“Which I still hold were the most inane things I’ve ever heard,” Kaiba cut in.

“You’re not helping. As I was saying, it would have been hypocritical of me to make those speeches, and then not hold to them,” Yugi said. “Besides, I’ve always liked Kaiba. I mean, sure. He’s sarcastic, arrogant and egotistical, with an obsession with winning that rivals even Yami’s - ”

“And you’re only on my good qualities - ”

“But even you, Jou, have to admit that he’s got style,” Yugi finished.

That shut Jounouchi up for a moment. But only for a moment. He turned to Yami. “What about you? You’re okay with this?”

Yami threw his hands in the air. “Me? Why me? I’m not Yugi’s mother! Will everyone stop treating me like I’m the extra-adult just because I’m five thousand years older than people?" 

“But - ”

“Jounouchi, I distinctly heard you say that you “weren’t going to make a fuss about Kaiba” earlier tonight,” Yami reminded him.

“... fair point.”

Jounouchi shut his mouth, leaving the table in silence. Duke was inspecting his fingernails, and Mako and Bakura were both making concerted efforts to look interested in random events outside the table.

Fantastic. 

“Hey,” Yugi said suddenly. “Jounouchi. Honda. Where did you guys come up with the idea to have the performer sing Katy Perry songs?”

Honda jumped up, eager to break the silence. “Well, I asked - ”

“Honda! Shut it!” Jounouchi hissed. “It was just a lucky guess, Yugi! Why? Do you... enjoy Katy Perry?”

“Oh, I think you know that I enjoy Katy Perry, Jounouchi. In fact, I think someone around this table mentioned to you that I love her. The real question is,” Yugi continued. “Which so-called friend around this table _happened_ to mention to Jounouchi and Honda that I unironically love Katy Perry? Who might have access to that information? Who shared an apartment with me for over three years and so would know exactly what I listened to late at night _Atem Yami Mutou_?”

Bakura gasped. “Judas is in our midst.”

Yami clutched his chest. “Yugi! I would never betray your sacred honor! If I completely-on-accident let it slip that you listen to Katy Perry on a loop during your college entrance exams and that I nearly ripped out my eardrums after the seventieth rendition of “Fireworks,” it was not maliciously done.”

There were scattered titters. Yami felt the atmosphere relax. 

The two had done this before; tag team “arguments” that distracted from the tension in Yugi’s group of friends. So far, no one had caught on. 

“So it was you!”

“I mean, I didn’t know they were going to make a lady in a cake sing it, or I would never have said anything,” Yami said. “But I was planning to have the first dance changed to “Teenage Dream.” Should I not do that?”

“Please do that,” Mai said. “I will pay to see that happen.”

Yugi glared at him. “ I know your secrets too, Yami. See if I don’t get my revenge.”

Yami’s grin stiffened.

“Did you know,” Yugi said. “That after he got his body, there were multiple occasions where Yami accidentally walked into a woman’s restroom and ended up getting chased out by an angry girl hitting him with a purse?”

Duke stared at Yami, slack-jawed. “How did you _accidentally_ walk into a girl’s restroom?”

Yami glared at Yugi. “Thanks for bringing up my moments of shame, my friend.”

“Anytime.” 

Yami ran a hand through his hair. “Look. I realize it sounds bad. But in my defense, in ancient egypt, we didn’t have gender-segregated bathrooms. So I just assumed that bathrooms were… bathrooms.”

“But didn’t you notice gender-divided bathrooms when you were sharing a body with Yugi?” Mai wanted to know.

“Imagine sharing your body with an ancient spirit. Now imagine all the moments you wouldn’t want the ancient spirit to be paying a ton of attention,” Yami explained. “Those were the moments when I made myself politely absent. In other words: I was not usually in control of Yugi’s body when he was taking a piss.”

“For which I am eternally grateful,” Yugi said. “And thanks for skipping all of my gym classes.”

Yami finished his drink. “Any more embarrassing facts about me you want to divulge, Yugi? Anything weighing on your chest?" 

“Yeah, come on, Yug! What’s the most embarrassing thing Yami did when he got a new body?”

Yugi flashed a quick smile at Yami. “Hm, let me think. I’ve been saving them up for this occasion… ”

Yami groaned. “Just don’t discuss - ”

“The time I left you in the room with Sugoroku’s girlfriend and you started explaining to her how bread was made in Egypt?”

Yami buried his face in his hands, trying to hide his laughter. He couldn’t believe Yugi was bringing this one up. 

Admittedly, he had mentioned the Katy Perry thing to Honda and Jounouchi. So. Maybe he deserved this.

“Wait, Sugoroku has a girlfriend?” Duke asked.

“Well, we don’t know she’s his girlfriend. But she’s a very nice older lady who he’s been spending a lot of time with,” Yugi said. “Anyways. I leave Yami alone with her for three minutes - ”

“I’d like to point out that this was three months after Egypt, and I was a complete mess - ”

Mai shushed him.

“So I walk back into the room,” Yugi continued. “And I kid you not, Yami is explaining to her the milling techniques people used in ancient egypt to make bread out of farro. Because in ancient egypt, you see, people also ate bread, but obviously, they didn’t have the same grain as we did. They used farro. And then he says - ”

“Did you notice that the word “farro” sounds exactly like the word “pharaoh"? That’s a little wordplay for you.” Yami finished. “You’re dripping,” he informed Mai, who was busy coughing up the cognac she’d tried to drink during the performance.

“You made a pun between the word “pharaoh” and farro?” she wheezed.

“It was pretty bad. I try not to think about it too much.”

“Trust me, the ancient milling technique leadup was almost worse,” Yugi added. “For the first year after Yami acquired a body, he couldn’t have a conversation with a stranger without bringing Egypt into it. One time I had to rescue him when he started explaining how ancient Egyptians use crocodile dung as contraceptives - 

The table roared.

From there, the conversation quickly devolved into other people’s most awkward moments, and Yami took a backseat, pleased that he and Yugi dispelled the earlier tension between Yugi, Kaiba and Jounouchi. Bringing up the ancient Egypt stories often did.

He stood up, motioning to his empty drink when Yugi frowned. “Refill,” he mouthed, and headed towards the bar, weaving through the dancers.

It was interesting, seeing Kaiba and Yugi getting along.

Yami snorted, annoyed at himself. Maybe he should start being honest: he was jealous. They were friends. He hadn’t really believed it when Yugi had said it at the beginning of the night, but Yami was convinced. And not necessarily by anything Kaiba had said - it was what Kaiba _wasn’t_ saying that convinced him. He hadn’t taken a single unnecessary dig at Jounouchi, Honda, or Yami himself. The sarcasm’s sharp edge had shot out occasionally, but - it was occasional, a quick stab rather than a constant, overwhelming threat. And Jounouchi in particular had given Kaiba plenty of opportunities to _seriously_  attack. Kaiba had taken none of them.

That, more than anything Kaiba said, told Yami that his former rival respected Yugi. Kaiba didn’t want to Yugi’s party ruined. Five years ago, he wouldn’t have cared.

Yami frowned as he arrived at the bar. A second whiskey seemed like a bad idea. The bartender smiled up at him.

“I’m looking for a cocktail,” he said. “Something heavy, maybe spicy? What do you recommend?”

“Heavy and spicy, huh.” She hummed, polishing a glass. “How do you feel about ginger?”

“Very positive.”

“Excellent. I’ll be right back.”

Yami leaned against the counter, watching as she grabbed a few bottles and started mixing. He loved watching experts work, the decisiveness with which their bodies moved contrasting with the meditative expression on their face. Effortless precision. 

Style.

Perhaps that was why he’d always enjoyed playing against Kaiba. Kaiba was infuriating, yes, a source of constant, nagging frustration - but gods, he was beautiful to watch as a duelist. Every movement, every move, every tactic, was like liquid gold. Wings made of ice. It made perfect sense he’d chosen the dragon as his favorite type of card. Dragons made no sense. That amount of mass should never be able to escape the earth’s gravity. And the fire - no creature should be able to breath fire. And yet. Having faced dragons many times, Yami could attest to the fact that they could fly.

And they were beautiful to see when they did fly. Even as they signaled your destruction, you couldn’t look away.

It hurt, seeing Kaiba and Yugi get along. And it hurt that he was jealous of his own aibou, that he wasn’t big enough to be glad for Yugi without regrets for himself. It hurt, because Yami couldn’t help looking at Kaiba and Yugi laughing together, and wonder - if he’d called Kaiba, if he’d reached out a few years ago, rather than avoided him - could this be them? Could they be friends as well?

_Shocking as it may seem, I do have the capacity to change my mind about people… I simply choose not to, most of the time… I was wrong about Yugi._

Could Kaiba have changed his mind about Yami? Could he still change his mind about him? Or would he… simply choose not to?

Worse yet, were Kaiba and Yugi friends _precisely because_ Yami was out of the picture? Precisely because Yami was no longer around, providing constant tension between Kaiba and “Yugi”?

That softening in Kaiba’s eyes when he’d looked at Yugi - pleasure at a friend’s pleasure. Kaiba would never look at Yami that way.

Yami struggled, and failed, to push down another cold wave of jealousy.

Lost in thought, Yami barely noticed when the bartender came back with a tall glass. “Here you are,” she said. “Dark rum, ginger beer, and a twist of lime. It’s a dark and stormy.”

“A dark and stormy?” Yami murmured. The drink was indeed quite dark, with bubbles fizzing towards the top, and a slice of lime perched on the edge. He thanked the bartender and headed back towards the table.

Yami took a sip of the drink as he sat down. It was almost exactly what he’d asked - the first thing he tasted was the spice of the ginger, followed by the rich mellowness of the rum. Molasses and vanilla danced between prickles of ginger. Yami closed his eyes, savoring the slow burn of the rum.

When he opened his eyes, Kaiba was staring right at him. Yami swallowed. Kaiba cocked his head, and winked.

Another fire, this one not from the alcohol, roared to life in Yami’s stomach, and sent a shot of pleasure up from his cock to his spine. He suppressed a gasp, feeling his cheeks grow pink.

Oh.

Fuck.

_Fuck_.

That was why he hadn’t contacted Kaiba for five years.

Because Yami was very different from Yugi. And Yami had feelings that Yugi did not - clearly - have to deal with.

Sometimes, having a human body made Yami want to crawl back in a tomb until he mummified. Things certainly were simpler when he just came out to duel and make speeches.

The other part of Yami’s head - the part of Yami’s head that was not occupied suppressing the fire growing in his torso and lower body - went: _did Seto Kaiba just wink at me?_

“Is that another cart rolling our way?” Mai wanted to know. “Honda and Jounouchi, did you order another cake?”

Jounouchi and Honda shook their heads. Mai was right, though. There was a cart, and it was clearly heading towards their table.

Yami was pathetically grateful for the distraction. “Duke? Mako?” Yami asked the two people who hadn’t yet offered up gifts.

Duke held up his hands. “I just bought a wedding gift.”

“Me too!” Mako concurred.

The waiter pushing the cart stopped, and ran around the table. “Special delivery,” he said. “For a Yugi Motou?”

Yugi raised his hand, and the waiter handed him a sealed envelope. “Here you are, sir! Please enjoy.”

Yugi looked at the envelope. His brow knit. “It’s from Pegasus.”

Yami felt prickles go down his arm. He did not like this at all.

“Uh, I just felt a chill. Did anyone else feel a chill?” Bakura asked.

“Nope, I’m with you,” Mai said. “Anyone have holy water?”

“How did he even know we were here?” Yugi wanted to know, as he gingerly broke the envelope’s bright red seal. “Kaiba - ”

“Why would I tell him?”

“You work together, sometimes.”

“Sure. And over long conversations about how to animate duel monster cards, I slip in tidbits about my dating life and the bachelor parties I’m attending. Because that’s the kind of warm and friendly relationship Pegasus and I have. We invite each other to our Christmas parties too, and reminisce about how he kidnapped my brother and sent me to the shadow realm. He makes a mean eggnog.”

Yugi paused in the middle of unfolding the letter. “All right, it was a bit absurd.”

Which was right around the time Yami realized - he dropped his head in his hands. “Damn it.”

“Yami? Don’t tell me you’re drinking Pegasus’s eggnog?”

Yami glared at Mai. “I am not drinking Pegasus’ eggnog. But I did run into him at a tournament a month ago - ”

Duke gave him a quizzical look. “And you told him about the bachelor party? Surely you’re smarter than that, Yami.”

“Of course I didn’t! He asked me if I was going to enter the English Grand-Prix, and I said I had a conflict, that I’d be in America. I didn’t say anything else, I swear. I’m so sorry, Yugi…  ” Yami trailed off.

“For someone like Pegasus, that was probably enough to tip him off,” Kaiba said. “He’s like a dog on a scent trail when he’s got a lead..”

Duke winced. “One time, I told him my parents were close to their fiftieth anniversary and he showed up at the party. I didn’t tell him the date or the venue or anything. He spent the entire time making innuendos at my poor aunt and eating enormous slices of cake.”

“That does sound like him,” Kaiba said. “He tried crashing Mokuba’s high school graduation too.”

“Tried?” Honda asked.

“He showed up at the incorrect high school,” Kaiba’s lips curved into a rare smile. “It took me six months to send him down the wrong trail, but it was worth it.”

Yugi cleared his throat. He was staring at the letter, which he’d evidently had time to read a few times. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then finally started reading the note aloud.

“Dear Yugi-boy. I was delighted to hear of your upcoming nuptials with Anzu. What a peach of a woman you’ve chosen as a mate - as fresh, innocent and succulent”

Mako made a vomiting sound

“And succulent,” Yugi continued. “As the rare night-blooming Cereus which blossoms from the cactus. And so your love, I am sure, blossomed from the prickles and pains of turbulent wars into a glorious fragrance which illuminates the night-air for miles around. I can only rejoice at the knowledge that I have surely played a role in bringing you two cherubs together.”

“I need another drink,” Kaiba muttered.

“The first days of marriage, my sweetest boy, are the tenderest, as I well know. They are like petals melting in the mouth. Enjoy them as, for the first time, through the sacrament of marriage, your bodi - I’m not going to read this - ” Yugi went bright red around the ears, his eyes scanning down the page. “I’m not going to - oh - okay - definitely not going - _wow_ \- okay - Ahem. I have sent you this gift, so that you may always enjoy the perfection of your love in her first blossom. Of course, nothing may compare with the beauty of your promised one, but I have done what I can. May you have everlasting happiness, Yugi-boy.”

“That was… just as nauseating as I expected, actually,” Mai said, reaching for her drink. “ _Cherubs_. Good lord.”

“And now I’m terrified that we’re going to uncover this cart and find a sculpture of Anzu made up entirely of cactuses,” Yami said.

Yugi shuddered. “Can we all agree that if that’s what’s under there, we don’t tell her?” He looked at the cart’s cover. “No help for it, I suppose.”

When he pulled it off, Yami’s first instinct was that the gift wasn’t that bad. It was just a portrait of Anzu in an old-fashioned dress. Not a particularly accurate portrait of Anzu, in Yami’s opinion: Anzu would never just stand around with her hands folded and a vaguely pleasant look on her face. But as far as Pegasus gifts went, it was rather innocuous.

Then something about Anzu’s clothing caught Yami’s attention. He leaned his head to the side as a thought bubbled to the surface of his mind.

“That’s… Yugi, is she wearing the - ”

“ - exact same clothes Cecilia Pegasus was wearing in the portrait we found of her?” Yugi finished. “Yeah, I think so.”

“WHAAAAAAA - ” Jounouchi shrieked. “No wonder she looks so freaky!”

“There are even the same number of bows,” Honda pointed out. “Look!”

Duke raised a hand. “Who is Cecilia Pegasus?”

“Pegasus’ dead child-bride,” Kaiba said.

“That’s a bit rude, Kaiba,” Yami said.

“But am I wrong, though?” Kaiba replied. “The man thinks Edgar Allen Poe is a role model.”

Yami couldn’t deny his point. “She died when she was seventeen,” he explained to their friends not up on the backstory. “Pegasus organized all of Duelist Kingdom - and tried to take over Kaiba’s company - so he could bring her back to life. Don’t ask for details.”

Mako scratched his head. “Pegasus organized a tournament so he could bring a seventeen year old bride back to life through a card game and holographic technology? I don’t think I want details.”

Bakura held up his cell phone, handing it to Yugi. “I found a copy of Pegasus’ portrait online. You’re right - this is a perfect copy. Except for, you know. The head.”

Everyone crowded around Yugi to get a look at the phone’s image. The two images were even creepier seen side-by-side. It was like Pegasus had copied his painting of Cecilia verbatim before lifting Anzu’s face onto it. Even Anzu’s head matched it in many aspects - her hair was curlier, her eyes… kinder, her mouth more passive.

“This night just keeps getting creepier,” Mai breathed, and retreated back to her seat. “If I ever get married, you fuckers better not tell Pegasus. I don’t want my face stuck on one of these.”

Kaiba crossed his arms. “Can I make a suggestion? Burn it.”

Yugi blinked. “What?”

“Burn it.”

“That would be so… rude.”

Kaiba snorted. “Well, far be it for me to tell you to be rude to the man who imprisoned your grandfather for several months just so he could get your attention, but do you really want a portrait of Anzu in the style of Pegasus’ dead, seventeen-year old wife who he still has a necrophiliac obsession with?”

Kaiba let the question hang in the air for a moment.

Jounouchi leaned into the table. “I hate to agree with moneybags over here… but I agree. This painting is just fucking creepy.”

“Count me in on team “burn this shit down”” Mai said. “You really want to show this to Anzu? And be like “hey, look what my weird and creepy friend sent us?”

Honda nodded. "Also, where would you put it? You want to look at this every day?" 

“I’ve changed my mind,” Kaiba said, looking at the portrait again. “This isn’t Edgar Allen Poe. This is full-on Oscar Wilde. That portrait is going to come to life and kill you. Or Anzu.”

Yami summed Kaiba’s conclusions up in a more succinct manner. “This is the beginning of a horror movie, Yugi. Destroy the painting before it goes full-blown exorcist on all of us.”

Yugi looked back at the painting. “Okay… these are really compelling arguments. But what if I just… gave it away. To charity.”

“NO!” Everyone at the table yelled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Comments? Deep life concerns?


	3. The Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "turn" refers to a stage of Texas Hold 'Em poker when the dealer reveals the fourth community card. A turn can change the stakes of the game, changing formerly losing hands into winning ones, and making winning hands look much less attractive. Or it can solidify a previously held position.
> 
> Warning for mild homophobia in this chapter.

_I wanna hold 'em like they do in Texas plays_  
_Fold 'em, let 'em, hit me, raise it, baby stay with me  
(Poker Face, _ Lady Gaga _)_

  
“Sorry about your coat, mate,” Jounouchi whispered to Duke. “I didn’t expect it to burn that fast.”

Duke shook ash off of his vest. “All for a good cause. I would have burned all my clothes off to be rid of that disaster.”

Mai shook her head. “I’m going to have nightmares for weeks. Am I the only one who heard singing from the painting as it burned? Or - ”

“Now that we’ve gotten rid of that abomination,” Duke interrupted. “We should do something fun. We’re in Vegas. We’re young. It’s a bachelor party! It’s time to enjoy this.”

“Don’t say strippers.” Yami warned.

“I wasn’t going to say strippers, Yami! Give me some credit. No, we’re gamers. Let’s play some games. How about some Dungeon Dice Monsters?”

“I’m coming around on the strippers.”

“It’s a two person game!” Mako objected.

Duke stretched out on the banquet, very much at his ease. “We could play in teams.”

“What, like charades?” Honda asked.

Duke looked confused. “How would that be like charades?”

“You guys do what you want, but I’m not playing Dungeon Dice Monsters,” Yami said. “I’d rather play craps. Or roulette. Even Go fish.”

“What about Duel Monsters?” Mai suggested. “We could have a Yugi/Kaiba rematch. Right here, right now. Or is it more like Yami/ Kaiba now?”

“Still only two people,” Yami said.

“And I don’t currently duel.”

Yami raised an eyebrow. It was true that Kaiba had stopped dueling in tournaments years ago - but he had played two high profile games quite recently.

“What about the one with Pegasus last year?” Jounouchi asked, clearly thinking along the same lines.

“That was an exhibition match,” Kaiba said. “And if you call playing against Pegasus a duel, I have a piece of the true cross I’d like to sell you.”

“Shinji Kato?” Yugi pointed out. “That was three months ago.”

“Charity.”

Kato, a young duelist with an enormous following, had curb-stomped his way through a series of tournaments in Asia, before proclaiming himself the “New King of Games” and demanding a duel with Yugi Motuo to prove the end of the last generation of Duelists. Yugi, in the middle of planning a wedding, had sensibly refused. Kato had turned his attention to Kaiba, who had accepted, on condition that Kato raise ten million dollars for charity before the match. Kato’s rabid fanbase had quickly raised the funds, eager to see their “New King” destroy one of the previous generation’s legends.

Kaiba had proceeded to take Kato down in one of the fastest, most tactically ruthless games Yami had ever seen. All told, the match had taken maybe fifteen minutes, and that included the five it took Kaiba to match the donations.  Not that Yami had watched the match on a loop, or anything. Because that would border on the obsessive.

He absolutely had watched the match on a loop.

“Charades?” Bakura said.

“At a bachelor party? That’s not going to end well…”

Duke smirked. “Or it’s going to end very well.”

“I know what I’d like to play,” Yugi said. “Duke’s right, we’re in Vegas. Why don’t we play poker? I bet the bar would even supply us with cards and chips.”

“I don’t know, Yug,” Jounouchi said, dubious. “I'm not sure if I want to play poker with moneybags over here. He could just keep raising until he pushes the rest of us out - ”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “So set a betting cap. Or play for peanuts.”

That was enough to convince Jounouchi. Within minutes, they’d cleared the table of extraneous objects, and gotten a deck of cards and a pile of chips from the bar. They’d squabbled a little when it came to setting the betting limit, finally stopping at $50 a game, and then proceeded to squabble again at the type of poker. Yugi settled the fight when he’d announced his preference for Texas Hold ‘Em.

“What?” Yugi protested when Honda tried to talk him out of it. “I learned about poker from Lady Gaga. And what you learn about from Lady Gaga is sacred, Honda.”

Yami squinted down at his hand. A five of spades and a two of hearts. Not much good. Unlike in Duel Monsters, there was never any chance of bettering _your_ hand - you had to play the cards on the table, and the cards of every other player. Playing other player’s cards was familiar, at least…

He looked around at his companions, noting Jounouchi’s grin, and Mako’s furrowed brow. Kaiba looked as impassive as ever.

The first round of betting went by without a hitch. No one’s hand, it seemed, was bad enough to fold without at least seeing the first three cards.

Duke burned the top card of the deck, and flipped the next three cards over.

A three of diamonds, a two of hearts, and a six of spades.

That gave Yami a pair of twos. Not much of a hand, but when Mako raised the bet to ten dollars, he matched. Bakura folded.

"What if I have a nine and a - "

"For god's sake, don't tell us what cards you have, Mako!" Jounouchi hissed. "Look it up on your phone like the rest of us." 

"I said ' _what if_ '" 

Yami felt his mouth widen into a grin. The electricity around the table was building. Everyone was stealing glances at each other, trying to guess - how high up would they go? How much would it take for the other one to fold? Was their hand worth it? Especially since, with a three, two and six on the table, someone might be on their way to building a straight

Jounouchi raised again.

“Fuck it, I’m out.” Honda tossed his cards on the table. “Got a hand looks more like a foot.”

“Some people are into that, Honda. Don’t insult yourself,” Mai said, throwing more chips into the pot. No one else dropped out. 

The electricity in the game diminished a hint.

Duke flipped over a fourth card - the turn. A four. Yami kept his face straight. 

One more card.

“You know what this game needs?” Duke said. “Raised stakes.”

“So raise,” Kaiba said, his voice a quiet purr, his face a mask of boredom. He leaned his face on two long fingers. Yami found his eyes wandering the length of Kaiba’s face, up and down the fingers, wondering - “Shit or get off the pot, Duke.”

“I was thinking something a little riskier than money.”

“Much as I’d love to see you naked, Duke, public nudity isn’t allowed in Vegas. Strip poker is out,” Mai drawled.

“I was thinking a rousing round of truth,” Duke said. “There hasn’t been enough sexual content in this bachelor party. How ‘bout every time the bet comes to you, you not only have to meet the money raise - ” he tossed another four dollars into the center. “But you have to answer the question on the table.”

Someone drew a sharp breath in.

“That could get ugly.”

“Or fun.”

Yami looked across the table. “Yugi?”

Yugi shrugged, his eyes amused. “I’m game. You can always fold if you don’t want to answer, right, Duke?”

Mai cackled. “So it’s a lot less vicious than an actual game of truth.”

Bakura scratched his head. “I’ve never heard of this game.”

“Then you haven’t been to many girl’s slumber parties,” Mai informed him. “You can’t “fold” a game of truth there. You just answer the question, or you hear about it for the rest of your life.”

“Good lord.” Kaiba put his cards down. “You all realize this is a colossal mistake and you’ll never be able to look at each other in the eye again, right?” He flagged down a waiter. “Can I get nine shots of  - everyone all right with tequila? - tequila, please? If you're going to do this, might as well give everyone an equal chance to forget what you said by tomorrow.”

Duke grinned. “Excellent.” He tapped two chips on the table. “I think we should leave the first question to someone else, however. Maybe wait for the bet to make its way back to Yugi, as our illustrious host? Unless someone takes up the challenge first?”

“Chickening out so fast?” Jounouchi taunted, but Yami noticed that Jounouchi didn’t take up Duke’s offer either. Not that Yami did  Most of his “Truth” questions were dry enough to put people to sleep - something like “what’s your favorite vacation location?” Probably the result of spending too much time with Yugi, and not enough time in places Duke would consider "fun." 

Or Yami's questions were completely inappropriate personal queries like “Does anyone at this table experience same-sex attraction? No? Just me? Okay, I’ll go now.”

 _That_ kind of question Duke would probably love, come to think of it.

But it would involve Yami revealing himself.

The shots arrived and were distributed, just in time for Yugi’s question. Yami gasped as the heat of the alcohol hit his throat. It mingling with the electricity of the game pulsing in Yami’s torso. 

“Hit us, Yugi,” Duke ordered.

Yugi scratched his head. “Not sure I’m the best for this, you know. What’s a good question - like, what’s your favorite dating spot?”

They all groaned.

“Oh, no, I know!  I’ve got it! Which couple do you most admire and look up to?” Yugi beamed.

There were shouts of outrage. “Come on, Yugi, that’s far too tame,” Jounouchi yelled, and Mako grumbled about the question being straight out of a Hallmark movie. Yami hid a grin in his drink. It was corny as hell, but it was classic Yugi. What was Duke expecting?

“No one’s going to fold over that question,” Mai remarked.

“Well, it’s my question,” Yugi said. “Are you going to answer it?”

The next person was Mai, who rolled her eyes, matched Duke’s bet, and muttered in a rather embarrassed tone: “It’s you and fucking Anzu, okay, Yugi?”

Yugi blushed pink.

“Oh, come on, like you don’t know. You two are like, the ideal couple. It makes me want to throw up. And make out with both of you. In a platonic way, because I don’t want to break you up.”

“That’s so sweet, Mai.” Yugi touched his heart.

Mako grinned. “Well, you’re not going to get a different answer here, bud.” He matched Duke’s bet. “You and Anzu are what I hope me and my girlfriend will be like someday!”

“You, and your girlfriend?” Jounouchi asked. “What, you and the giant squid?”

“That joke is dead and rotting!” Mako hissed.

“I’m just sayin’ you are weirdly attracted to sea-animals.”

“Yeah, what does your girlfriend do again?”

Mako dropped his head. ‘She’s a fishmonger.”

There were scattered titters.

Kaiba tapped his cards on the table, his eyes distant. It was his turn to bet. Yami wondered what he’d say. Would he go along with the group, and say Yugi and Tea? Yami doubted that would be an honest answer, but it would be a convenient cover-up. Perhaps he’d go for sarcasm. Perhaps he’d fold. But over such a basic question? That didn’t seem in character.

“Kaiba?” Duke said, prodding.

“Hm? Oh. Sorry.” Kaiba pushed four chips forward to the center. “My parents. Your move, Duke.”

From anyone else, that answer would have been slightly old-fashioned and romantic. From Kaiba, it was neither. Yami exchanged glances with Yugi. Neither had never heard Kaiba say a single, solitary word about his parents, his family before Gozaburo. Nor had Mokuba, for that matter. “Right. Riiight. Angelina and Brad.”

“They’re not even together anymore, Duke,” Mako objected.

“But they were so glorious while they were!”

The rest of the round passed uneventfully, with more “Yugi and Anzu's” (including Yami joining into that crowd), and “Usagi and Mamoru” (whoever they were) from Yugi. Duke was right - no one refused to answer the question. That left seven players for the final round. Yami glanced down at his hand, and at the cards on the table. He suspected he could take almost any of them with his hand, but seven was a bit much. Time to raise the bets and get rid of any pretenders.

Or ask a suitably embarrassing question.

Duke burned the top of the deck, and flipped the final card. A ten.

“Shall I propose a question this time? Or are we going to leave it to Yami?”

“Yami’s going to steal Yugi’s “where’s your favorite dating location,” question,” Mai said. “Take it, Duke.”

Duke leaned over the table. “All right. Let’s end this shit. To stay in the round, you have to say where and when you lost your virginity. And who with. If you can remember.”

Yami put his cards down. “I’m out.”

He tried to ignore the pregnant silence that followed his pronouncement, the very significant glances a few of his friends exchanged.

Duke gaped at him. “You’re kidding me.”

“I’m out,” Yami repeated, trying to keep a slight tremble out of his voice. He was not talking about his first time here. With his friends. And especially not in front of Yugi. Or - well. Not Kaiba either. Not yet.

He probably could have played it better - done the “Sorry, guys, ancient egyptian memory, can’t remember anything” bit, and laughed it off rather than just shutting down. But this was something he’d been… unprepared for. He couldn't. He _couldn't_. “Jounouchi?”

 _Coward_ , hissed a voice in his head. 

Throwing it to Jounouchi took all the pressure off of Yami, because of course, Jounouchi was going to insist on making it an entire story. “Well, first, I’m raising another ten dollars,” Jounouchi said. “I had my first time - let’s see, I think it was right after we came back from Egypt? It was in the back of my first car. She was so white - the car, not the girl. Really full tires, incredibly bouncy, just so maneuverable. And so easy to pack full. But the girl was gorgeous too. She had these huge - .”

“It wasn’t me,” Mai interrupted him. “I just want to make that clear. I am not the girl in the back of the ugly-ass white minivan.”

“That was an _amazing_ minivan, and you know it! Anyway, that’s where I had my first girl. There’s something about cars...”

“Oh, and I’m weird because I like the ocean?” Mako muttered.

“Yug’?”

Yugi coughed. “I’m, er - I’m going to fold.” He put his cards down on the table. A ripple of laughter traversed the group - no one seemed terribly surprised. ‘Come on, Yugi!” someone said. “We know who it was with - surely she won’t mind!”

“I’ll mind!” Yugi replied.

Yami’s lips curved up in a smile.

Mai, predictably, stayed in, and regaled them with a story about her first boyfriend and the truly horrifying themed hotel room he’d rented for them. “Little mermaid,” she’d said, pretending to vomit. “There was a stuffed animatronic crab right above the bed. His name was Sebastian, and he sang “Unda da Sea” at key moments. Someone went “unda da sea” during that night  is all I’m saying.”

Yugi was choking with laughter. “Why did you staaaaay?” he asked, between hiccups.

“I was really in love with the guy! And besides, I wanted to know what was going to happen with the clamshell bed. Like, was it going to close? What happened if it closed while we were in it, you know? Would the hotel employees have to release us? Would I ask them to cover their eyes while they did it? How do you preserve your dignity while you’re lying in a clamshell bed, fully nude, as hotel employees release you?”

And then they were all gone in helpless giggles.

When they had recovered enough to order another round of shots - a “recovery round,” Mai called it -  it was Kaiba’s turn.

Yami felt his blood slow. If there was anyone whose answer he desperately wanted, it was Kaiba’s. If there was anyone whose answer he also desperately _did not want_ , it was Kaiba’s. He found himself praying that his rival would fold. Surely Kaiba would fold - such a private question, and Kaiba was not exactly the revealing type. He didn’t even roll up his sleeves, for the Gods’ sake.

Except for tonight, when his sleeves were rolled up to the elbow.

Kaiba spun his shot glass in place, then knocked it back. Yami watched his throat work, and swallowed at the same time as Kaiba did, tracing his adam’s apple, the delicate bones of the neck meeting the collarbone -

Gods, he was beautiful.

“I’m afraid it’s not an interesting story,” Kaiba said. He wasn’t folding, Yami realized, and his blood turned to ice. “Especially compared to Kujaku’s. I went to a bar about four years ago, and met a guy called Jack. We flirted. He took me back to his apartment. Simple as that. And I’m raising by ten.”

Yami’s head went white.

_… a guy called Jack_

_A guy_

_He took me back_

_He_

“I’m sorry, I think I just hallucinated. What?”

“I raised by ten,” Kaiba answered Yami, steepling his fingers. “I’m still under the cap, aren’t I?”

Mai leaned over the table. “Wait, no, you don’t get to just casually drop that kind of information and move on, Kaiba. You’re gay?”

Kaiba raised one eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware I was “dropping massive information,” Kujaku. I thought we were just sharing stories about our first time, not revealing our sexual preferences. But in this case, you are correct in your inference. I am exclusively attracted to men.”

“Well, fuck,” Mai declared. “I was fully intending to try my luck with you, Kaiba. So much for that.”

“Afraid not, Kujaku. Maybe in another life.”

“Why are all the best ones unavailable?” Mai asked, and downed her shot.

“Hey!” Honda said.

“But - ” Jounouchi looked thunderstruck. As did most of the people around the table, now that Yami bothered to look. “You’re always - the tabloids - with women.”

“Yes, because the tabloids are so accurate,” Kaiba said. “I’m pretty sure they still think I’m dating my CFO. Although they may have broken us up by now, which I’m sure she’ll appreciate.”

“So you’re - but  - you - you don’t act gay,” Jounouchi burst out.

“For fuck’s sake, Jounouchi,” Yami said, hitting a hand against the table. “What is supposed to mean?”

“Seriously, Jounouchi, get your head out of your ass,” Yugi added, actually looking angry.

“I didn’t mean anything by it!”

“Exactly.”

Kaiba was watching the proceedings with his habitual half-smile. “I mean, I thought it was fairly obvious,” he said. “But I also don’t put a lot of trust in your observational skills, Wheeler.”

He looked back down at his cards. “Anyways. Are we playing poker, or are we wasting time on the vagaries on the homosexuality?” Kaiba asked, putting an end to the conversation. “Duke? It’s your move.”

Duke glanced at Kaiba’s raise, then set his cards down. “The stakes are too high for me, I’m afraid.” 

Mako also folded, leaving only Jounouchi, Mai and Kaiba in the game. “Finally,” Jounouchi grumbled. “Let’s see what you’ve got, moneybags.”

“You’re first, Jounouchi,” Mai reminded him.

“Pair of jacks,” Jounouchi said triumphantly, grabbing the jack from the center to reconstitute his hand.

“Well, that beats me,” Mai sighed. “Pair of fives. Kaiba?”

“Two pair,” Kaiba said, and selected the ten and the two.

“Twos? You’ve been raising bets this entire time with just a pair of twos?” Jounouchi demanded, outraged. “You were holding nothing until the last turn. Why didn’t you fold?”

Kaiba shrugged. “Two pair is good enough to beat one, yes? My win.”

Yami laughed at Jounouchi’s outrage, and felt a pinch of chagrin. His straight would have been more than good enough to take Kaiba’s two pair - but Kaiba hadn’t folded.

“That was fun!” Yugi announced. “Another?”

***

The second game was considerably faster - and tamer - than the first, which gave Yami some time to think between bets and revelations.

How casually Kaiba answered the question that had bothered Yami for years.

_a guy called Jack_

The question Yami had refused to let himself indulge in.

_a guy_

Yami’s sexual awakening had been gradual. He’d started having dreams. Dreams he did not want to know he was having. Dreams whose essence he forgot upon awakening; dreams that had no rhyme or reason, no discernable pattern, except for two things - two things he refused to believe were related.

They all included Kaiba. And he woke up hard at the end of every one of them.

At first, Yami treated the dreams as aberration. Getting a new body was bound to come with some bizarre side effects, some - er - plumbing issues. Maybe his system was just working out the kinks in his sleep. Better than working out the kinks during the day, he supposed.

Then he’d seen two men making out in the streets of Domino city and felt a jolt of desire so strong he’d had to sit down on a park bench for ten minutes to regain his composure.

That night, he’d dreamed that he and Kaiba were dueling. Except there were no duel disks, no monsters, no cards. And within moments, Kaiba was in front of him, his lips were on him; Kaiba was kissing him, kissing him, and Yami was pulling Kaiba to him, begging him for more, and he could feel Kaiba’s hardness against his own and that didn’t make him disgusted, it made him - _want_

And he was kissing Kaiba savagely back, moaning without shame -

Yami had woken up to his first orgasm in five thousand years, and incontrovertible evidence that he was attracted to men. And to a specific man most of all.

So no, Yami had not contacted Kaiba.

Sure, Yami had occasionally indulged in a fantasy or two where Kaiba reciprocated Yami’s attraction. It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility: as Anzu had once told him, when two people spent _so much_ of themselves trying to defeat the other person, there was probably something else in the mix.

But when Yami leveled with himself, he knew that his fantasies were just that - fantasies. Like everyone else, Yami assumed Kaiba was attracted to women. And he didn’t feel like having whatever grudging respect existed between them dashed by a cold, polite rejection.

It doesn’t matter, Yami thought. You know he likes men - so what? That doesn’t mean he likes you. What difference does it make?

But it made a great deal of difference.

Without warning, images appeared into Yami’s mind. Kaiba kissing another man; Kaiba pushed against a wall, Kaiba on his knees  -

Did he take the initiative, the first time? Did they go slow, or hard? Did he have the same need for control in bed as he did in life, or did he let go -

Did he scream?

With effort, Yami dragged himself back to the game. If he didn’t stop nagging at this… attraction, he was going to end up having to leave the party to take several cold showers. Or an ice bath.

“Most attractive body part?” Mai asked. “No doubles, too. If everyone ends up saying “lips,” I will disavow all of you.”

“Eyes,” Kaiba replied.

“That’s such a cop-out, Kaiba!”

“Faces are a part of the body, Kujaku. Or did you miss that part of the anatomy lesson?”

“Legs,” Mako announced, matching Kaiba’s raise. “Long legs.”

“Hands,” Yami said without thinking, and then blushed. He’d definitely been thinking of Kaiba with that one.

Honda scratched his head. “Hands. You mean, for like massages and stuff?”

See? His brain scolded him. You should have said something straighter.

Oh, like women don’t have hands, the other part of his brain retorted.

“What an odd question,” Yami said, pretending not to understand. “I just like hands. Jounouchi?”

“I ducked out last turn, remember? Although I definitely would have said bre-”

“Okay, we’ve got it,” Yugi interrupted. “I probably would have picked eyes, but Kaiba beat me there… smiles. I like smiles.”

Mai groaned. “You’re all just so… boring. Yami’s is the only vaguely interesting one. It’s too bad there’s no joke about women’s hands and their vagina the same way there is about men’s hands and their dicks.”

Yami’s blush deepened. He hadn’t even thought of the - obvious connection.

“Oh, stop it, Mai,” Yugi said. “Just because it’s not to your taste doesn’t mean it’s wrong. And I’m raising by twenty. Now answer your own question. What attracts you to a man?”

She matched his raise. “Important stuff, Yugi. Shape of his ass.”

“So do you wait for all men to stand and twirl before you decide whether to accept their invitations?” Yami asked.

“As a rule, yes.”

Mako dropped out, claiming his hand wasn’t worth the 20 dollar raise. Kaiba and Yami matched Yugi, leaving four players for the final card.

Yami burned the top card, then flipped over a queen to meet the three and the seven.

“Raise five,” Yugi said.

Yami studied his cards. Yugi was getting pretty aggressive with this game - which could mean nothing. Or it could mean he had a very good hand. Yugi wasn’t much of a bluffer.

“I’m out,” Mai said. “This game’s too rich for my blood. Watch my stuff, Jounouchi; I’m getting a refill.” She slapped her cards on the table.

Now that Yami was thinking of hands, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of of Kaiba’s. He’d always loved the way Kaiba held his cards, the length of his fingers as he riffled through them, the way his hands cut through the air, graceful and sharp.

It wasn’t helping that Kaiba had decided to roll up his sleeves tonight, exposing his forearms. He looked… good. Revealing the lean, tapered muscles of his arms emphasized the length of his hands even more than usual. Which was not helping Yami’s attempts to stay focused.

_You’ve got it bad._

Kaiba looked at Yami, his eyes unreadable.

“Is it true,” Kaiba said, stretching the question out. “That Anzu went on a date with Yami before she dated Yugi?”

Yami blinked. “What?”

“Wait, are we even allowed to ask individualized questions like that?” Bakura wanted to know.

“I don’t see why not,” Kaiba responded. “It - what’s the word you used, Duke? Raises the stakes.”

Duke shrugged. “Seems fine to me.”

“Besides, I really want to know the answer to this one,” Honda added.

Yami looked over at Yugi, who looked troubled. He didn’t want to betray Yugi’s confidence, - but he didn’t know if this counted as a confidence, exactly. It was years ago.

This was the eternal problem with Kaiba. You could trust him, feel comfortable with him - but there was always that edge, ready to come out and cut at the least expected moment. In a way, it’s what Yami most admired in him as a duelist and an opponent. Whenever Yami thought he’d figured out Kaiba’s game, Kaiba ripped open a trapdoor. Swords beneath swords. Lightning crackling out of blue skies.

Which play did he expect Yami to make?

_Or is this a game at all?_

“Yes,” Yami said, coming to a decision and answering all at once. “I’ll take that bet. Anzu and I did go out on a date. Right before battle city.”

Jounouchi and Honda gaped at him. “I didn’t know that! Yug’, did you know that?” Jounouchi demanded.

“I did know that. In fact, I was the one who arranged the date.” Yugi shot a glare at Kaiba. “Why do you care if Yami dated Tea?"

“I was just wondering…which of the two changed their mind about going out? If either of them did?”

Oh, that was brutal.

“I guess I did,” Yugi said, rather uncertainly. “Uh - I thought Anzu and Yami might like each other, when I set them up? And I don’t think I realized how much I liked Anzu. At least - well, I assumed that given a choice, anyone would choose Yami over me - ”

Yami lowered his head. “Surely you know that’s not true,” he said to Yugi as quietly as he could.

“Well, I thought it at the time, at least,” Yugi said with a shrug. “But seeing Yami and Anzu together - being in the background - I realized that I didn’t want Yami to be with Anzu. _I_ wanted to be with Anzu.”

“So you broke them up,” Kaiba summarized.

“I guess I… kind of did?”

Yami was baffled. He’d never realized -

“Yugi. You think you broke me and Anzu up?”

“I know I didn’t break Anzu’s heart or anything - I’ve talked to her about it since, and she saw you more as a friend, but I’ve always wondered if I,” Yugi gulped. “I don’t know, stopped you from someone you cared for? You haven’t dated since, and you’re always telling me you don’t want me to set you up with people and you don’t talk about your romantic life and sometimes I worry that you’re still interested in- ”

Yami reached across the table and grabbed Yugi’s hand. “Yugi. No.”

He’d much rather be having this as a private conversation, but - apparently, this was a conversation he and Yugi needed to have. One they’d clearly needed to have for a long time.

“I love Anzu. As a _friend_.” He laid emphasis on that last word. “But I’ve never been interested in her romantically. Ever. And I’m not certainly interested in her romantically now. I’m so sorry you’ve been worrying about this for so long, but there was nothing to worry about.”

Yugi sniffed. He seemed to be holding back tears. “But your romantic life - ”

“Is my own.” Yami said as firmly as possible. “I’m… more private than you are, Yugi. I’m exploring this world, this life, at my own pace. But just because I haven’t found someone doesn’t mean I’m miserable, or that I’m pining.” He amended with an afterthought. “At least not after Anzu. Do you believe me?”

Yugi didn’t hesitate. “Of course, partner. I should have asked you from the start.”

“I wish I’d known you were worried about this.”

“I guess I was worried that if you did like Anzu, I’d have to… I don’t know, let you have a chance at her?”

Saying it out loud made almost everyone at the table laugh. “I think Anzu might have something to say about that,” Honda commented. “And nothing good.”

Yugi laughed, looking relieved. “Well, okay, it sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud. I just,” he looked sheepish. “I just wanted you to be as happy as me, Yami.”

“I am happy,” Yami said. He patted Yugi’s hand. “Not in the same way as you, perhaps, but I am. As to being as happy as you - I’m not sure anyone’s going to rival you with that right now. Your happiness could light up the entire country of Japan tonight.”

He sat back. “Besides, I feel like my lack of interest in Anzu was obvious from the beginning. Remember how you had to trick me into the date by surprise-body switching with me three seconds before the start of our outing?”

Yugi smirked. “How could I forget? I’m not sure you’ve ever forgiven me!”

“I was trying to take a nap!”

“Do spirits need naps?”

“A spirit-nap.”

Yugi threw a napkin at Yami, who stuck his tongue out. “So, Kaiba? Have we satisfactorily answered your questions?” Yugi asked.

Yami had completely forgotten about the instigation of the conversation.

“Perfectly satisfied,” Kaiba replied. “Are we ready to reveal?”

“Wait, no,” Yugi said. “That’s too easy. You just sent me and Yami into a whole dramatic conversation; it’s only fair if we get to raise the stakes as well. Yugi and I should get a question each.”

“Fair enough. Although I did not require a dramatic conversation,” Kaiba said. “You two did that one on your own.”

We did, didn’t we? Yami thought. And we needed it.

“My turn then? Okay. So how did you know about the date?” Yugi asked. “I never mentioned it to anyone. Yami?”

“Don’t look at me,” Yami said. “I’m a tomb.”

“That’s your idea of raising the stakes?” Kaiba asked. “Anzu mentioned it while we were working on the disk.”

“Oh.” Yugi sounded disappointed.

“What, you thought I’d hacked into the city’s security feeds from the last five years and scanned all of them to see if Yami and Anzu had ever  exchanged poignant glances?”

“Well, that would have made a better story,” Yugi said. “What did Anzu say?”

Kaiba shrugged. “Just that she realized she had feelings for you - Yugi you, not Yami - during the date with Yami. She also said I should try to improve DDR software, which - ”

“Yeah, don’t ask,” Yami said.

“Anyway, that’s it. I was curious, and I brought it up,” Kaiba said. “No hidden agenda.”

Which Yami believed about as far as much as he believed Mako was the world’s best duelist. He knew Kaiba never did anything without a reason - without multiple reasons, preferably. But as to Kaiba’s reasons -

Did Kaiba know? Did he suspect that Yami and Yugi hadn’t discussed their relative feelings about Anzu in the five years since Battle City? Was he sowing the seeds of discord, as he often did - or was he prodding at old wounds to make them heal? To make them stronger?

Impossible to tell.

It was Yami’s turn to ask a question, to “raise the stakes,” as the group had termed it.

This was his chance.  He, Yugi and Kaiba were the only ones left in the game - he could try something a little more daring, something that might give him a hint as to Kaiba’s interests…

Something that would force _him_ to give a hint to Kaiba.

_Which person at this table do you find most attractive?_

... No. That wasn’t daring, that was - that was like flashing a neon sign above his head entitled “Will You Fuck Me Please?” He wasn’t that desperate.

Or was he? The idea had a certain appeal. It would sound like a particularly vicious raise - maybe Kaiba and Yugi would only take it that way, would never guess the second agenda -

But what if Kaiba said someone else’s name? What if he said “Honda”? Or “Mako”? (Surely he wouldn’t say _Mako_?) Or refused to answer? Then he would have wasted a perfectly good opportunity, and embarrassed himself in the process. And it wasn’t terribly likely that Kaiba would say his name.

Yami would have to answer the question too.

That was the trouble with truth. You couldn’t get what you wanted without giving yourself away first. And there was no guarantee Yami would get what he wanted.

But he might. He might. And if he did -

He looked at Kaiba.

Do it do it do it do it do it, went the drumbeat of his heart

_Which person at this table do you find the most attractive?_

“Wh - ” his throat was suddenly dry. “What is your greatest regret?”

Took the coward’s way out, at the last second.

The right way out, he told himself. You’re not making good decisions right now. This is Kaiba you’re talking about, not a good looking guy in a bar. You should be trying to mitigate disaster, not pick him up.

“At least it’s not “what’s your favorite dating location,”” Duke said, and downed his drink.

“Losing the ceremonial duel to you,” Yugi said, without hesitation. “I feel like I trapped you here.”

“You didn’t. It was my choice to stay here, and to have a body of my own,” Yami reminded him.

“I know. You keep saying that. But you still don’t look happy.”

Yami didn’t want to keep having this discussion. Yugi wasn’t wrong, exactly - Yami wasn’t happy. At least not the way Yugi was. But he was glad he’d stayed in the twenty-first century, for all of its difficulties. And trying to convince Yugi of that nuance while Yugi was in a maudlin mood was unlikely. “Well, I am. You’re just going to have to trust me on that one. Kaiba?”

“You are lucky, Yugi, that the source of your greatest regret seems so clear,” Kaiba said, his voice contemplative. “I… find myself having difficulty sorting through the many bad choices in my life.”

“Kaiba admitting he’s wrong?” Jounouchi asked. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Regrets aren’t the same thing as being wrong, Katsuya. There are many choices that were the right ones, but that I nonetheless… regret.” Kaiba frowned. “And many choices taken away from me. Paths I wish I could have taken.”

“Building Death-T comes to mind,” Honda muttered. “If you’re looking for top contenders - ”

“No.” The response was swift. “No, I don’t regret building Death-T.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jounouchi said, outraged. “Why - ”

“That one should be obvious,” Kaiba said. “Without Death-T, I would never have known any of you. Not really. And as infuriating as you all are, your absence would have been - the greater regret.”

A hushed silence descended on the table, only broken when Kaiba, tone flat, finally answered the Yami’s question: “I suppose, in the end, that my greatest regret is still not killing Gozaburo when I had the chance.”

Duke spat out a mouthful of his drink. “Jesus! Fuck, Kaiba. That’s it. You win. What is wrong with you?”

“Yugi regrets not helping a friend, Kaiba regrets not killing a man. There are two kinds of people in the world” Mako said.

Yami couldn’t help himself from adding to the pile-on. “For the sake of the Gods’ Kaiba, _why_? He killed himself - ”

“Some people,” Kaiba said, fixing his gaze on Yami. “Don’t deserve the gift of choosing their own death.” His jaw clenched. “After everything he did, Gozaburo... should never have gotten that gift. In the end, he got to exit by his rules. I - ” he stopped.

“So you’re pissed that he got one up on you,” Duke concluded.

Kaiba’s tone was once again calm, no trace of the fury that had entered a moment before. “Something like that.” He leaned back. “I’m certainly confirming your bad impressions of me, aren’t I? Not regretting Death-T, planning murder… perhaps I should call Yugi a dweeb for old time’s sake?”

That got a laugh from most of the table, diffusing some of the tension that had settled in because of Kaiba’s answers.

“If you really want a throwback, you could just call me a dork,” Yugi said. “That’ll just start the nostalgia train right up.”

“No, that’s in the first line of my wedding toast,” Kaiba said. “No spoilers.”

Even Jounouchi cracked a smile at that one.

“Your turn, Yami,” Yugi said. “Greatest regret?”

_Asking this stupid question! Should have gone with the “who do you find attractive one”!_

Not only had Yami failed to discover anything about Kaiba’s interests, but if he’d also managed to get the group to turn more against him.

“I don’t know,” he said slowly, buying himself time. “ I suppose” - and it seemed so obvious when it came to him - “not being more honest with my friends.”  
  
Across the table, Yugi frowned, but kept silent.

Yami was quiet for a moment. “ I have been so accustomed to being self-sustaining, to keeping my thoughts solely for myself, that it it is difficult for me to… give parts of myself away.”

“Like what?” Yugi asked. His eyes were wide.

“Like - ” Yami took a deep breath. He wasn’t yet ready to reveal his romantic orientations to Yugi, at least not in public. But perhaps a breath of honesty - if only a breath - could also rectify some of the wrong he’d done Kaiba in asking the question in the first place. He caught Kaiba’s eye. “I don’t think I’ve ever been fully honest with you, Kaiba.”

“With me? I - ”

“I’ve never told you how much I admire and respect you,” Yami cut him off before Kaiba could stop him. “As a duelist, of course. But also as a person.”

Kaiba actually looked shocked. “Yami, I just said I regretted not murdering a member of my family, and that I had _no_ regrets about nearly killing of your friends during Death-T. Are you joking?”

“I would not say such a thing except with the utmost seriousness,” Yami assured Kaiba. “I can’t say that I understand you, Kaiba. But with the exception of Yugi, you may be the person I’ve met in this century that I respect the most. And I’m fairly certain I’ve given you the opposite impression. For which I am sorry.”

Kaiba was silent. Yami suspected he could not have surprised him more if he’d suddenly announced he was going to give Kaiba the three God cards. “I - ” Kaiba paused. “Thank you.”

Yami nodded, feeling oddly relieved. He hadn’t realized how much it had been burdening him, that Kaiba thought Yami despised him. Deep down, he’d hoped that Kaiba had known that Yami respected him - but the shock on Kaiba’s face when Yami confessed had taken away any pretense of _that_. So Kaiba didn’t know.

Well, now he did.

“You guys are just so pure,” Duke complained. “ I was hoping for something significantly raunchier. Like, maybe Yami’s harbored a deep attraction to Mai that he’s never been able to confess? Maybe it’s never been to Tea, but it’s always been to Mai - or, wait, Rebecca!”

Yugi shuddered. “Don’t even bring up Rebecca. Bakura’s already promised to run interference between Rebecca and I at the wedding tomorrow.”

“You invited her?!?”

“I couldn’t _not_ invite her! She’s a friend! Albeit a friend with an uncomfortable crush on me. Yami, I don’t suppose Duke is onto something…?”

“Afraid not,” Yami said. “I don’t harbor a deep, hidden attraction to Rebecca. Or to Mai. Apologies, Mai.”

“I see it’s the evening of men telling me they don’t want to sleep with me,” Mai said. “That’s fine. I’m fine with that.”

“So, that leaves three of us, and no more raises?” Kaiba asked, having found his voice once more. “Shall we?”

Yami and Yugi nodded, and the three of them laid down their cards.

“You too?” Yami laughed, staring at his and Yugi’s matching pair of sevens. “Nice one! I was convinced you had something bigger, the way you kept raising.”

“Nah, I was bluffing all the way. Sevens isn’t bad, with this draw.”

“You fucking - how do you keep doing that?” Jounouchi asked, having caught a glimpse at Kaiba’s hand.  

“Pair of queens,” Kaiba said. Yugi and Yami groaned simultaneously; they would have shared the pot if they’d won.

“You didn’t get the winning hand until your last turn _again_ ,” Honda complained. “I hate Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Kaiba pushed his cards to the center. “The trick is not to care,” he informed the group. “I have a perfect indifference to winning.”

It was Yami’s turn to spit up half of his drink. There were loud cries of “Liar!” and Yugi threw his leftover peanuts in Kaiba’s direction.  

“You’re full of shit, Kaiba. You don’t care about winning? What’s next, you don’t like dragons?” Yugi demanded, laughing.

“Maybe he just doesn’t care about poker?” Mai said. “Because if we’re talking duel monsters… ”

“Exactly. If we were playing duel monsters, it would be very different,” Kaiba acknowledged. “I care about winning duel monsters.”  

“Maybe this time we should try draw poker, since you can change your hand,” Honda suggested. “I - ”

There was a loud beeping sound.

"I thought I turned this off," Kaiba said, pulling out his phone. 

 

“I wouldn’t mind trying draw,” Yugi said.

The beeping was louder this time “Oh, someone bypassed - I told them not to do that unless there was an emergency.” Kaiba’s frown deepened as he read whatever was on the phone. “Ah.”

Suddenly the phone started ringing.

“Excuse me,” Kaiba said, standing up. “I need to take this.” He slid out from behind the table and walked quickly through the crowd of partygoers. Yami watched him leave.

“Let’s try draw?” Yugi said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks are very much due to my partner for playing (so many) rounds of Texas Hold 'Em with me until I understood the mechanisms of the game. All errors are my own. 
> 
> Kaiba's contention that he does not care about winning is taken pretty much verbatim from Mary Doria Russell's masterpiece The Sparrow 
> 
> Questions? Comments? Philosophical inquiries?
> 
> (P.S: The comments/kudos on the last chapter filled me with joy. Thank you.)


	4. Ante Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ante Up: In poker, ante up means to put your “ante” - the initial stake of money - onto the table. In order to participate in the game, you must place a certain amount of money (the ante) on the table. It’s your stake in the game.  
> In common parlance, ante up means to raise the stakes. To take a risk. To challenge.

_In the land of gods and monsters,_  
_I was an angel._  
_Living in the garden of evil,_  
_Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed._  
_Shining like a fiery beacon,_  
_You got that medicine I need_  
_Fame, liquor, love, give it to me slowly._  
\- "Gods and Monsters" Lana Del Rey 

Four games of draw poker, an acrobat’s performance, and a surprise appearance by Bandit Keith later, Yami found himself back at their table, alone and playing a game of solitaire with the abandoned deck of cards.

When he’d shared a body from Yugi, Yami could spend any amount of time in crowds without problems. In his newfound solitary state, he’d discovered a short tolerance of large groups of strangers. After half an hour or so surrounded by people, Yami started felt increasingly trapped, like he was being hunted. When the same sensation began creeping on him as he watched the performances with Yugi and the rest of the group, Yami had excused himself and returned to the table.

Besides, he wasn’t terribly fond of elephant shows.

Yami moved a king to the empty slot.

Someone had switched the bar’s television away from the football game to the news. The news anchor was blaring something about drone activity on the Chinese-Korean border. Suspicions that the AI program controlling the drones came from neither China nor Korea.

Yami’s jaw tightened. For the first few years after Egypt, he developed cluster headaches from watching the news, so frustrated was he by his inability to do anything. Yugi had started hiding newspapers from him

The trouble with acquiring a body, Yami found, was that you acquired a whole host of attendant side effects. He’d thought he knew who he was before the Ceremonial duel: a pharaoh who had lost his place and his time. But this man - this man who eschewed crowds, who picked up strangers at tournaments, who was picky about varieties of tea, who struggled maintaining old friendships (were they _his_ friendships, or Yugi’s?) and had no particular purpose in life - this man, Yami did not know.

He supposed that was part of the point of choosing to live: to discover himself in a way that he had not been allowed to discover himself when he was busy saving the world and acting as a mystical spirit. That was the attraction of a body, a life.

But when it happened, it was… disconcerting.

Three on the two, four on the five, flip the card over.

Tonight would have been less disconcerting if Kaiba hadn’t been there.

Move the two onto the ace.

But it had been good to clear the air. To tell Kaiba how much he admired him, respected him.

There was so much more to say, another part of Yami’s mind insisted. So much more to ask.

“Yes.”

Yami’s head snapped up at that voice. Kaiba was heading back to the table, still talking into his phone.

“Go ahead,” Kaiba said. “Please try not to take down the global economy while you do it.”

He paused, evidently listening to whoever was on the other end.

“I’m sure it would be fun. Which is precisely why you shouldn’t do it.”

Kaiba hung up as he slid back into his seat. “Yami. I see the table’s been abandoned.”

Yami nodded. “The rest of the party is at the elephant show. Everything all right?” He tipped his head towards the phone.

Kaiba folded his arms. “All under control.” His eyes scanned the table, taking in Yami’s game of solitaire and half-empty drink. “You’re not at the show?”

“Not a fan of crowds.” Yami pointed towards the other end of the bar. “They’re that way, if you want to join them.”

Kaiba looked up and down Yami’s cards, ignoring his last statement entirely. “You should move that ten.”

“Where - oh.” Yami followed his lead. “I was about to.”

“I’d rather join you, if that’s all right,” Kaiba said. “Elephant shows aren’t my favorite.”

Yami fought to keep his voice neutral. His blood rate, on the other hand - “You’re welcome to. Obviously.”

Alone. Together.  

“Care for something more exciting than solitaire? Not that I want to interrupt a good game…”

“Oh thank the Gods,” Yami said with feeling, and swept the cards back into a pile. “I was going spare.”

Kaiba’s mouth quirked up in a smile, and Yami felt his stomach swoop up. “Thought you might have been. Poker?”

Within minutes, they’d set up another poker game. These moved much faster than any of the games they’d played with the group - without seven other people to raise, call and fold, Yami and Kaiba fell into a rhythm of quick, brutal rounds. Yami felt the familiar electricity build in his arms and spine. Lost the first game, then won two in a row.

Lost.

Draw.

The speed helped keep his attention away from the fact that Kaiba was now sitting, by necessity of a two-player game, less than a metre away from him. If he just leaned slightly, they would be touching.

And this was the first time they’d ever been alone together. Before, there had always at least been Yugi to keep them company.

_There was so much more to say. So much more to ask._

So fucking ask, a savage voice in his head insisted.

Kaiba dealt out the next hand.

“Would you like to raise the stakes again?” Yami asked, keeping his tone level. “To the previous ones?”

Kaiba flicked his eyes up from his cards. “As I recall, last time we raised the stakes, you spent most of the time folding. As satisfying as it is to win, Yami, that rather takes the fun out of it.”

“So I don’t fold this time,” Yami said, leaning in. “We play Mai’s version. Total honesty, or the game is done.”

Yami saw the mask in front of Kaiba’s eyes disappear for a second, replaced with raw hunger.

 _Got you_.

Kaiba considered Yami’s offer for a long moment, before saying, “You can’t hold back.”

“I won’t.”

Kaiba nodded fractionally, and the game began.

Yami let Kaiba ask the first question. To gain Kaiba’s trust, he knew he’d have to show he was honest - that he hadn’t been bluffing in his promise not to hold back. And Yami suspected Kaiba had no intention of holding back either.

Kaiba did let him dangle until the first three cards were flipped.

“So, Yami,” and Yami felt his mouth go dry, because he knew the question coming. “Why wouldn’t you answer Duke’s question in our first game?”

“Remind me?” Yami said. It was a bluff, of course. He knew exactly what the question was. Worse, Kaiba’s smile told Yami that he knew Yami was bluffing.

“How you lost your virginity.”

This was how Kaiba planned to test Yami’s honesty. With the question Yami had refused to answer in front of the group.

There was still time to fold.

Yami kept his eyes resolutely on his cards as he answered. “I refused to answer the question because Yugi thinks - assumes - I’m attracted to women. I didn’t want to disabuse him the night of his bachelor party. And if I revealed that the first person I had sex with was a man, well. There would go that assumption.”  

It was the first time Yami had discussed his sexuality to anyone who wasn’t actively sleeping with him. Not that he discussed his sexuality with his partners either. He braced himself for Kaiba’s scorn, or his laughter. Both of which he supposed he deserved, for his cowardice.

Silence.

Finally, Yami looked up from his cards to meet Kaiba’s eyes.

Kaiba took a sip of his drink. He didn’t look shocked. Or pleased. Yami couldn’t read him at all.

“So. When you said your greatest regret was not being honest with your friends,”said Kaiba, after what seemed like an eternity. “One of those regrets was with Yugi, wasn’t it? About this?”

Yami nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He could feel nothing but his heart, pounding against his throat.

“Has Yugi ever indicated - well - you think he would react badly? He certainly seemed fine with it earlier.”

That question could not be answered with just a nod. Yami cleared his throat. “I have no idea how Yugi would react. I had no idea how he felt about - until tonight when you said - well, he didn’t react badly to you being gay. That was the first he said anything on the subject. But he’s also spent a great deal of time trying to set me up with women in the past few years…” Yami found it hard to continue. “It seemed important to him that I find someone… like he found someone.”

“That does sound like Yugi.”

“It’s not Yugi’s disappointment, if I’m honest,” Yami said, looking away from Kaiba. “Yugi and I shared so much, for or so long, that discovering this - rather massive difference in our desires…” 

Kaiba frowned. “You thought there was something wrong with you?”

Yami made a face. “Maybe. Not because I thought… being gay… was wrong.” Oh Gods, that was the first time he’d said it aloud. “But I’d idealized Yugi so much that I thought any deviance _I_ had from what he was was wrong. Yugi is marrying his high school sweetheart, and he’s maybe dated one other woman. That’s not a standard I’m living up to.”

“To be fair, unless you’re going to dig up the bones of your egyptian schoolmates, I don’t think it’s physically possible.”

That startled another laugh out of Yami. “Good point. In any case, let’s say, in terms of gender… and especially of number… I have not lived up to Yugi’s standard at all. In fact, that’s probably what would shock him the most - not the sexual orientation, but the, er, way I’ve explored it.”

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “Good lord, how bad can it be? Are you telling me you pick up drunk strangers at bars? That _would_ shock Yugi.”

“Oh, it’s much worse,” Yami assured him. “I pick them up at tournaments.”

Kaiba’s eyes actually widened for a moment. He crossed his arms. “ That one I’m surprised by. Tournaments? Is that where…?”

Yami felt a blush creep onto his cheeks. “Yes. The second tournament I played as myself. After a game, my opponent invited me to the bar to discuss strategy. We ended up rehashing the game late into the night; when the bar closed, we went to keep talking up in his hotel room, and… well.”

And Kaiba, to Yami’s utter astonishment, leaned back and then whistled.

“Well played, Yami.”

Yami knew he was bright red at this point. “ _Well_ _played_?”

Kaiba shrugged. “Come on, Yami. Winning a game and then sex? Good sex? I think every duelist around the table tonight has at least fantasized about that one, and you’re probably the only one of us who has achieved it. It’s too bad you didn’t tell that story. You would have beaten everyone. Except Mai.”

Yami had never considered it that way, but now that he did, he couldn’t repress the smile coming across his own face. It was then that Yami realized what expression Kaiba’s eyes had held when he’d revealed his sexuality. Not scorn. Not pleasure. _Sympathy_. He understood.

“This wasn’t the way I expected you to react,” Yami confessed. “I expected, I don’t know - ”

“Shock?”

“At least a little shock, yeah. You aren’t surprised that I’m gay?”

Kaiba shook his head. “No. There had to be a reason you refused to answer the first question. And unless you’d been sleeping with Anzu on the side, or your first experience with sex had been truly horrific - neither of which seemed likely, given your reaction to the question - sexual orientation was the best guess. Besides,” and now Kaiba very deliberately looked up to meet Yami’s eyes. “It takes one to know one. Doesn’t it?”

This time, the jolt went directly to Yami’s cock.

Oh, he was in such trouble.

Kaiba couldn’t be flirting - could he? It was an expression of solidarity, of a shared identity. If it was - did Yami want it to be?  Didn’t he want Kaiba -

He was filled with a sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss him, to pull Kaiba to him and kiss him, just a touch, just a taste. To know what his lips felt like, to know how warm they were, how soft. How he tasted.

“Your question, Yami,” Kaiba said, flipping the second card over, oblivious to the turmoil within his opponent.

Yami took a breath. He needed to slow down. He needed a moment to think. His question was next - he needed a question that would slow them down, one that would give him space to step back. At the very least, a question that would give him time to calm his raging hormones.

Almost out of desperation, Yami blurted out the first question he could think of.

“Your parents,” Yami said. “Tell me about them.”

Kaiba looked like he’d been slapped.

Yami felt a surge of horror. Fuck. Wrong question.

Kaiba let out a very short breath. “Could you rephrase that as a question?”

Yami thought frantically of the most innocuous question he could ask regarding Kaiba’s parents, and was rewarded with Kaiba glaring at him. “And don’t try to weasel out of this, Yami. Ask the question you meant to ask, or don’t play at all.”

To hold back on Kaiba was a greater insult than to attack. “Do you miss them?”

“Do I - ” Kaiba cocked his head to the side and looked up at the ceiling. “Do I miss my parents? What kind of insulting _fucking_ question is this, Yami? Of course I miss my parents. I miss them every day of my goddamn life. Every single day. What do you think, that I’m a robot?”

“You never talk about them.” Yami tried to defend himself. “Until tonight, you’d never so much as mentioned their existence. Only Gozaburo - ”

“Yes. Because it’s much easier to talk about what you’ve left behind. What you’ve defeated. What you hope to someday fully defeat.” Kaiba’s hand went to his neck, where Yami glimpsed the cord of his necklace. “Gozaburo destroyed my childhood. He took everything away from me. There were only two things he could never touch: Mokuba, and my memories of my parents. Those, I preserve. So, no. I would rather not talk about my parents. I would rather not have people pick over my bones.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t - ”

Kaiba shook his head. “I told you not to hold back.”

They went through the next round silently. Kaiba did not ask another question.

When Yami won the game with three tens, Kaiba barely reacted, except to lay the table for the next game.

Yami picked up his hand with a sense of foreboding.

“Tell me, Yami,” Kaiba said, before they’d even burned the first card. “You said before that we were friends, didn’t you? When you mentioned your - what did you call them? Greatest regrets?”

“I did,” Yami replied. “Despite your protests, Kaiba, I do consider us to be friends.”

Kaiba nodded. “Now, I was never as good at this “friendship” thing as Yugi or Anzu or the rest of the Yugi gang. But I do have a clarifying question. If you and I are, as you claim, friends - then why have you not contacted me for five years?”

Yami had thought he didn’t want to answer the first question. He was wrong.

This was the question he didn’t want to answer.  
Kaiba tilted his head and took a sip from his drink, never taking his eyes from Yami’s. And Gods - despite everything - he’d missed this. Missed playing against Kaiba. Edge to edge. Never knowing when the other one would strike.

“I didn’t… know your phone number,” Yami said. It was a weak excuse, a bargain for time.

“Oh yes. And you and Yugi’s friends have never barged into my office, bypassing my security and demanding answers for some imagined crime,” Kaiba said, a smile on his face, but no smile in his voice. “I’ve not held a tournament in the last five years that you could have attended. Your best friend and I haven’t worked together on multiple projects. You couldn’t have said “Hello, Yugi. I’d like to talk to Kaiba. What’s his email address?” Please, Yami. If you want to stop playing, we can simply stop playing.” He made to lay his cards on the table.

“Wait!” Yami grabbed Kaiba’s wrist. Kaiba drew a sharp breath in at Yami’s touch.

“Wait,” Yami repeated. He realized he was still holding onto Kaiba’s wrist, and dropped it. Fuck. “I - ”

Yami could tell the truth, even if he couldn’t tell the whole truth. “I’m frightened of you.”

Kaiba said nothing, only frowned. Yami plunged forward. “When I returned to life, everyone fit into… understandable categories. Yugi is my partner, my best friend. His friends - Jounouchi, Honda, Bakura, Anzu- they’re Yugi’s friends. So they became my friends. Yugi’s grandfather became my family. I knew how everyone felt about me. I knew how to relate to them. You? You I did not know. I’ve never known what to make of you, Kaiba. I’ve never figured you out. So at a time when I’ve needed - balance - to try to understand the world around me, you frightened me. Our relationship has always been so volatile. I thought that to come into your orbit would be to throw me off balance.”  

He paused to take a large swallow of his drink. “I’d always meant to contact you, when I felt more secure. But as time passed, it seemed more and more difficult. And, well. After a year or so, I thought if I reached out, you’d as likely hang up the phone as anything else.”

Yami looked at Kaiba, whose frown had deepened. “You think me a coward.”

“No.” The response was swift as Kaiba pushed his bet to the center. “I suppose on some level, I’m flattered. That of the people you know, I’m the one you cannot… slot away.”

But he was still frowning.

So was Yami. He’d expected far more pushback from Kaiba.

Surely this wasn’t the end of it. This couldn’t be the end of it. Kaiba didn’t just let things go.

“Why did you think I wasn’t contacting you?” Yami asked, meeting his bet.

Kaiba considered this question. “Hm. I had a number of hypotheses on the subject. But what seemed most likely was that you were simply… done with me.”

“What?”

“Or is bored a better word?”

Yami sat bolt upright in indignation. “That - is - how could you have thought - ”

“Oh, please. Shall I turn?” Kaiba asked, and, not waiting for Yami’s answer, revealed the first three cards. “You must admit, Yami, you see your friends for their use-value more than you do anything else. It’s what separates you from Yugi. What did you say before? That your other friends fit into “understandable categories”? They “fit into”. They had some use to you. As your friends. As your partner. As your family. Now let us consider, if you will, what “use” I have served in your life.”

Kaiba paused to look at his hand. “Check. As I see it - saw it - I have served two purposes for you. The first is helping you in your various adventures. After Egypt, those adventures were over. There was no more world to save, at least not through our efforts.”

“And the second?”

“The second was as your rival on the dueling fields. But - I no longer duel. Not much of a rival. Perhaps I was never much of one in the first place; after all - ” Kaiba hesitated, and Yami glimpsed the struggle it took for him to say the rest. “I never did defeat you after our first duel. So. I thought after Egypt, I had fulfilled my purpose for you.”

Yami felt entirely cold. “Is that really how you think I see people? How I see you? As objects to be used?”

Those very blue eyes never left his. “Am I wrong?”

Yami wavered. There was - something to Kaiba’s characterization of his relationships with people. Certainly, he tended to slot people into categories; certainly he… saw very few people as more than cogs in a machine. That was not his relationship with Yugi, but Yugi had always been the exception, never the rule. Perhaps this was a remnant of his time as a pharaoh, when everyone had to be at a distance from him. When everyone was a pawn to be used in his struggles.

But surely that was not the way he treated everyone?

“I don’t know,” Yami admitted. “But it’s not the reason I didn’t contact you. I was never done with you.”

Kaiba made a half-nod of assent. “No. I suppose you weren’t. After all, you don’t… what was the term?” A grin flashed across his face. “Ah, yes. “Respect and admire.” You don’t respect and admire someone you’re done with.”

Yami took a sharp breath. When had he stopped finding Kaiba’s arrogance frustrating, and started finding it attractive? Attractive wasn’t even the right word. Attractive implied something under _control_. When Kaiba made one of those comments, Yami wanted to shove him against a wall and do something -

Very out of control.

“And yes,” Kaiba added. “I am planning to bring that up often.”

Yami pointedly ignored Kaiba’s comment, and contemplated the bets. His hand was good enough to keep playing the game, certainly.

As if this was about the game.

It was Yami’s turn to ask a question.

“Do you miss it? Dueling?” Yami asked, pushing his bet to the center.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “Is this your day to ask me what I miss?” He laughed at Yami’s chagrined expression. “I do. Of course I do. Stepping on the field, drawing that first hand, waiting for your opponent to reveal their card, calling an attack and waiting for it to unfold - there’s nothing like it. It’s an ache that doesn’t leave. But there are compensations.”

“Such as?”

“Seeing Mokuba grow up,” Kaiba said without hesitation. “I could be the CEO of Kaibacorp and a duelist, or I could be a CEO of Kaibacorp and Mokuba’s brother, but I couldn’t be all three. It was hubris to think otherwise. And I would trade Kaibacorp before I would trade another minute of Mokuba’s childhood. As to the rest,” he shrugged. “dueling makes you single-minded in pursuit of victory. I admire that. I loved that. So much. But it can cripple you as a thinker, that single-mindedness.”

“But you have dueled,” Yami pointed out. “Twice.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “Like I said, Pegasus was hardly a duel. He’s become less unexpected in his old age, and he’s never been the strongest strategist. At least without the Millenium eye. As for Shinji Kato…” His eyes narrowed, considering. “Have you dueled him yet?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure,” Yami said. “I was doing the North American circuit when he was doing the Asian tournaments. But I’ve seen videos.” _Mostly yours_ , he added silently.

“What do you think?”

Yami shrugged. “He’s very… flashy.”

Kaiba snorted. “You don’t need to be diplomatic with me, Yami. I’m hardly going to send him a text outlining your thoughts.”  

“Fine. He’s got big monsters, big trap cards, high-value magic cards. He overwhelms opponents. Attacks fast, pounds you quick, doesn’t give you time to recover. But honestly? I could never see what the hype was about.”

Kaiba made a gesture, inviting Yami to continue.

Yami leaned in, warming to his subject. “ If you just don’t let yourself be overwhelmed - if you even survive the first wave and continue your initial strategy beyond the attack - you have a decent chance of beating him. The problem is that most of his opponents panic after he pounds them, and they throw away their strategies, go into full defense. Then it’s a war of attrition - and _that_ he always wins. He beats his opponents psychologically, not strategically. Because the strategy itself is just raw power.”

“Exactly,” said Kaiba.  “You’re exactly right. There’s nothing behind the hype. If you know how he plans to overwhelm you, there’s nothing else there here. You watch enough vids, you know his exact strategy, and it doesn’t take a master tactician to take him down. Hell, Jounouchi could have done it - and you know I don’t hold Jounouchi’s dueling skills in high regard.”

“Maybe anyone could take him,” Yami pointed out, remembering. “But I’m not sure just anyone could take him in under ten minutes flat. And he had no idea you were about to take him. That’s what made it so good. Until the counter hit zero, he thought he was going to win.”

“Oh, he was _convinced_ we were in the scene-setting phase when he lost,” Kaiba said. “ I almost wanted to pull him aside and remind him that the game starts immediately, not twenty minutes in.”

“Not to mention he had your least favorite dueling habit.”

“Incompetence?”

Yami felt a smile growing on his face despite himself. “No. Long, blustering speeches.”

Kaiba closed his eyes in exasperation. “I’d almost forgotten that. Not only did he make a speech on every single one of his turns, but he also referred to himself in the third person as the “New King of Games” in each one of them.” Kaiba opened his eyes suddenly. “Now that I think about it, maybe it was strategic. I was seriously considering forfeiting after his second turn just so I wouldn’t have to hear him again.”

“It must have been hard for you to survive our duels,” Yami pointed out. “I believe I invented the genre of long speeches.”

“Long, preaching speeches, yes,” Kaiba agreed. “But yours always had a point.”

Yami grabbed his heart. “Kaiba! Don’t tell me you’ve actually seen the light about the heart of the cards.”

“No,” Kaiba said, in such a flat tone that Yami couldn’t help but laugh. “I did not. But your speeches had a tactical aim. They were stalls. You always made one when you weren’t sure what your next play was going to be.”

Yami blinked.

He blinked again.

“You’re - fuck.” He thought back to his most recent duels. Especially his most recent duels with Kaiba. Now that Kaiba mentioned it…  “Fuck.”

“Exactly.”

“I make speeches to _stall_ ,” Yami said, marvelling.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “To be fair, sometimes you just seem to really have a long speech about the heart of the cards you need to get off your chest. But after a while, I noticed that every time you looked like you had no idea what to do, suddenly you’d start preaching about goodness and friendship and courage and by the end of the speech you’d have figured out exactly what card to play.” He paused for a moment, then said, rather begrudgingly. “It’s rather impressive, really.”

“You know, Kaiba… ” Yami leaned in towards Kaiba confidingly, and Kaiba’s breath hitched. “I am quite impressive, really.”

Kaiba threw his head back and laughed, obviously amused by the joke, even at his expense. “You do think well of yourself.”

“I do,” Yami said, pleased at his joke, and at Kaiba’s reaction. “And you’re hardly one to talk about thinking well of oneself - ”

“Oh, here we go - ”

“If we looked under the dictionary under “Arrogant,” it would almost certainly say ‘Arrogant’,” Yami flipped through an imaginary book. “Adjective. See Kaiba, comma, Seto.”

“Check that dictionary again, Yami. Arrogance is having an _exaggerated_ sense of one’s talents.” Kaiba paused. “Perhaps what you and the Yugi-gang perceive as my arrogance is just an accurate self-evaluation of my own abilities.”

Yami groaned. “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”

“You have no response because you know it’s true.”

But Kaiba was laughing, and Yami couldn’t help it - he was laughing too. Laughter looked good on Kaiba.

 _You could tell him_ , and Yami’s breath caught. _You could tell him that you think he’s beautiful._

And then -

Yami swallowed.

“You know,” Yami said, to quell the swell of anxiety and desire in his mind. “So few of the new players are really any good. I mean, I thought Kato must have had something behind the hype until I saw him play you, just because I’ve been so desperate for some - ”

“Actual talent?” Kaiba filled in.

“Yes!

“So there’s no one… ”

“I suppose there are some good people,” Yami said. “I’ve certainly had challenging duels. And I haven’t dueled anyone ranked in the top ten yet. But… my experience, since coming back, has been that once I’ve dueled someone once, I know them. I know their strategy, I know their techniques, I know their deck, I know their plays. There are no surprises left. When we were playing, there were players who, even if I defeated them, I could never quite figure them out. They had real technique, real style. A certain depth. I could play them many times, and never feel like I’d actually _won_. I haven’t encountered that yet.”

“You’re right - ” Kaiba said. “There are few duelists like that today. Innovation is not particularly high on the list. People want marketability. Which I suppose explains Kato.”

‘He is very attractive,” Yami conceded.

It was almost funny, the way Kaiba stopped, drink halfway up to his mouth. “ _Kato_. Really?”

“He’s objectively gorgeous. Oh, come on, Kaiba,” Yami said as Kaiba made a face. “You say you like nice eyes. His eyes are glorious.”

“If you like a vacuous expression, I suppose. Besides, nice eyes aren’t enough to get me to sleep with someone.”

“So what does?”

“Is that an official question?” Kaiba asked. “Because it seems a little unspecific to me.”

Yami paused. “No. Give me a second.” He thought about what he wanted. “Okay. What’s been your longest relationship, and why did that person catch your attention?”

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, considering. “All right. Two weeks. I won’t tell you his name; he lives in domino city.”

Yami felt a surge of jealousy at this unnamed lover of Kaiba’s - _irrational_. “Why him?”

“He was older. Ten years or so. He… knew what he was doing.”

It took a few seconds for the meaning to sink in, and when it did, Yami heard a dull roar in his ears. Oh, fuck. This had gone -

“Too much information, Yami?” Kaiba asked, his voice very dry.

 _Too far._ But it was exactly what Yami had wanted to know. And his body was responding, his blood pounding slowly, thinking of Kaiba, thinking of that man, thinking -

“Not at all.”

Kaiba took a swallow of his drink. “It wasn’t just - the sex was great. But he was smart, and he didn’t bore me. Which is rare. I don’t usually see people for longer than a night. A few at most.”

Yami had to ask. “So why did it end?”

“The obvious reason.” Seeing Yami’s frown, Kaiba shrugged. “He didn’t know who I was. I told him I was a computer science student at Domino University. If I’d wanted to continue, I would have had to tell him. And…” Kaiba hesitated. “I would have had to introduced him to Mokuba. I liked him. But I didn’t like him enough for that.”

“Oh.” The reply sounded stupid even to Yami’s ears. “I’m sorry.”

Kaiba brushed his apology off with a gesture. “And you, Yami? Your longest relationship?”

Yami gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Er. Three days? Maybe? Most of my relationships - if they even merit the term - only last as long as tournament weekend.”  
“Why?”  

“I don’t know,” Yami said. “I suppose there’s never been anyone I’ve been interested in enough to want to pursue beyond a casual hookup.”

“Bullshit.”

Yami’s head shot up. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Kaiba said, enunciated very slowly and carefully. “Bull. Shit.”

“You don’t believe me?”

Kaiba shrugged. “I suppose it rings true enough. And there may even be truth in it. Who knows? But you’re not pursuing three-day relationships because you’re not finding people you’re “interested” in.”

Yami gaped at Kaiba.

“Oh, please, Yami. You’ve never done _casual_ in your entire life. You’re expecting me to believe that - ”

“What do you want to hear, Kaiba? What is it that you’re expecting me to say?” Yami was suddenly furious. “What’s your grandiose theory? Why do you think I’m fucking people and throwing them to the side?”

“I don’t know, Yami.” Kaiba replied. “I’m not the one picking men up and then hiding all my relationships from my best friend. Why don’t you try explaining your thinking instead of pulling excuses straight out of a bad romantic comedy?”

“Like you’re not hiding your relationships from your brother -”

“My brother knows exactly who and what I am, and who I sleep with,” Kaiba’s voice was almost viciously quiet. “Don’t change the subject. I should have known you were too much of coward to tell the truth - ”

“Fine. You want the truth? I enjoy it.” Yami snapped. “Is that what you want to hear? I enjoy it. I like picking men up. I like fucking them. I enjoy taking advantage of opportunities. I enjoy sex.” He couldn’t stop himself. “I enjoy being fucked, and fucking, and leaving. And that’s why I haven’t had a longer relationship, because I _don’t want one_. Is that what you were waiting for, Kaiba?”

“ _Yes_.”

Yami suddenly felt as though all his strings had been cut. He collapsed back against the banquet . “Fuck.”

“Indeed.”

“How did you know - ”

“Like I said. You’ve never done casual in your life. I wanted to see if you would admit it.”

“Kaiba?” Yami had to ask. “Do you believe me now?”

Now that he had bared his soul and exposed his secrets to the point of humiliation?

 _Not all your secrets_ , another voice breathed. _Not even about why you don’t want relationships…_

Kaiba considered this. “Mostly.”

“Only mostly?”

“Only mostly,” Kaiba confirmed. He poured Yami another glass of scotch - at some point, they’d ordered the full bottle - and pushed it over to him. “Are you surprised? You as good as admitted you’ve been holding things back. In fact, you admitted you hold things back during our earliest game. When you told me that your greatest regret was also about Yugi.”

“I don’t think you’re lying. But you’re not saying everything. There’s something you’re hiding.”

Yami felt the bottom swoop out from under him. He knew. Kaiba _knew_.

“Why - ” Yami had to clear his throat twice before he could manage to get the question out. “Why continue? If you think I’m holding back. Didn’t you say you would leave if you thought I wasn’t - ”

Now it was Kaiba’s turn to look away. “You know - ” his voice trailed off. “I’m not entirely sure. Maybe I want to see if you’ll finally tell me the truth. Or maybe - ” and his voice was lower as he met Yami’s eyes. “Maybe I just want to see… how far you’ll go.”

“So make it worth my while.”

He was almost shocked at his own boldness. If Kaiba interpreted it as flirtation -

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was the game.”

“The exchange of truths is the game. Fair exchange. But maybe I don’t trust you. Have you been telling me the truth the whole time? No holding back?”

Kaiba hesitated.

“You see.”

Kaiba looked down at his cards, and passed a hand through his hair. And suddenly Yami felt as though a great gulf separated the two, as though they were on the dueling field again, on opposing sides. He knew that expression of Kaiba’s - it was the strange stillness his face showed right before he said something that turned Yami’s entire game - sometimes his entire life -  upside down. The strange stillness Kaiba’s face always held right before he took his wildest of gambles.

“The greatest regret. You’re right. I was holding back. I do regret not killing Gozaburo. But there was… something else. Something I preferred not to say in front of the group.”

Kaiba took a breath. “You asked if I missed my parents - ”

Yami held utterly still.

“What I remember most, is that I didn’t - I never - I never said goodbye to them. I remember every moment of the day they died, every choice I could have made differently, every word I could have said. Every word I didn’t say.”

“Kaiba - ”

“Let me finish,” Kaiba stopped him. “I also remember every word I didn’t say the day of the ceremonial duel. The idea that you would have walked through that gate, and we would never have spoken again - the idea that I would never have told you goodbye - that idea haunts me.”

Yami stared at Kaiba, poleaxed. Waiting for the joke, the sarcasm to shoot out. But Kaiba’s expression was completely serious.

There was something Yami needed to say at this point. Unfortunately, Kaiba’s words had taken away all his capacity for speech, or thought. And as he sat there, Kaiba’s words echoing in his head, Kaiba poured himself another glass of scotch.

“Well, Yami? Did I make it… worth your while?” Kaiba said, putting the bottle down.

Yami shook his head. He couldn’t quite believe what he was going to say, but there was nothing else to say to such a confession. “The next question. Whatever it is. I’ll answer it completely. I won’t hold back. On my honor.”

“Then I’ll have to see what I can do for this final round, won’t I?”

And Kaiba flipped the final card.

Yami barely looked down at it. It wasn’t about the game anymore. If it ever had been.

Now it was about Kaiba's question. 

What question would he ask, when he knew Yami had no choice but to answer truthfully? 

“Did you enjoy our duels, Yami?”

Yami took a breath. Surely Kaiba didn’t mean -

Keeping his hands steady, Yami lifted his glass to his mouth and swallowed.

No. They were just talking about dueling. Respect. Admiration. Rivals. “Of course. I thought you understood, when I was talking about the surprising duelist, the one I could never figure out? I was talking about you. Our duels… they’re the ones I miss the most now. Kaiba - ” he hesitated. “Dueling today, it’s just a game. A good game, a fun game - a game I certainly enjoy. But when I dueled against someone with depth - someone who could always surprise me - it was so much more. It was,” he cleared his throat. “Always more with you.”

Kaiba took a sip from his drink, his eyes on Yami’s. “No.” He leaned forward. “I mean, did you  _enjoy_ our duels.” His voice dropped a few octaves.

Yami’s mind went white. He found it impossible to breathe.

“Yes,” Yami whispered.

Their hands were a bare inch from each other on the table. Deliberately, not taking his eyes from Yami’s, not smiling, Kaiba slid his hand until it touched Yami’s, until their fingers interlaced.

Oh.

Every nerve in Yami’s body was molten. Kaiba dropped his head so they were seperated by nothing but a breath.

“Me too, Yami.”

Whatever was left of Yami’s self-composure snapped. He dropped his cards and reached out his hand to -

“Oh hey! That’s where you those two went!”

Yami jumped backwards, slamming into the booth’s wood paneling. He grabbed at his cards.

“You missed the most amazing show! Maiiiiiii, tell them,” Yugi said, most definitely drunk, and being carried back to the table in Honda’s arms. “About the pink one.”

Yami dropped the cards again. “I - I need to go. Sorry.” He scrambled to his feet and started walking, not sure of his direction, only of the pounding of the blood in his ears, and of Yugi behind him, asking Kaiba:

“Did you two get into another argument?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter. Kicked. My. Ass.  
> The next chapter may take... a while (but seven pages are already written, so it is being produced), because it's *very* hard to write. It is coming, though. 
> 
> Anyway. Comments? Questions? Screams into the void?


	5. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, everyone! I bet you thought you'd seen the last of this fic! 
> 
> So, it's been (checks watch) nearly a year since the last update. For anyone who was waiting on this chapter, I'm so sorry. I was genuinely writing or editing the whole time, but this was a hard very hard chapter to finish. I was so frustrated by my inability to finish that I considered skipping the events of the chapter... but... that seemed wrong.
> 
> The one thing I did not consider doing was abandoning the fic. It's getting an ending, I promise. It may be slow going - I'm writing my dissertation, and moving between writing academic prose all day, and fanfic at night is tough - but there will be an ending. 
> 
> I did read all the comments over the last year, and they're one of the reasons I kept writing. I know when you leave a comment, it can feel like it's going into the ether - it's not. I read them; I read them when I was writing, and they kept me going. Thank you so much. The only reason I didn't respond is because I didn't want to make any promises I couldn't keep about when the chapter was going to drop. 
> 
> ***  
> A more fic-specific note: I changed the rating this chapter to explicit, and shifted the tags around. Please read the warnings and remember you can exit out whenever you feel you need to!

***

**Showdown** : A showdown is a decisive confrontation, both in poker and in life. In poker, a showdown is when, if more than one player remains after the last betting round, each remaining player must reveal his hand, in the order of the deal, in order to reveal the winner.

If during a showdown a player realizes their hand has lost, they has the option of mucking it (discarding) it rather than revealing it. Since losing hands reveal much information beyond the cards themselves, many players choose to muck.

***  
  
Yami had to reverse directions twice before he finally realized where he was going, before the pounding in his ears slowed down and he was able to breath again. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What was he doing? More to the point, what _had_ he been doing?

Well, the second question was easy. He’d been about a second away from throwing away all sense of self-preservation so he could shove Seto Kaiba against the back of a booth and find out exactly what Kaiba’s mouth tasted like.

Worse, he was fairly certain that Kaiba had wanted him to.

A wave of desire hit Yami. He stopped, forcing himself not to turn around. The others. All the others were there now. Kaiba wasn’t alone anymore. It was too late.

Yugi had almost seen them. Yugi. Who still didn’t know that Yami was gay. Who might react well - but who wasn’t likely to react well if he saw Yami making out with Kaiba at Yugi’s bachelor party. 

And this was Seto Kaiba, Yami reminded himself. Yes, Yami had nourished a long-lasting attraction to his rival, and yes, the events of the evening certainly seemed to indicate that Kaiba returned the attraction -

_But this was Kaiba_. Kaiba, who cared for no one save himself and his brother. Kaiba, whose tongue could cut as quickly as it could caress. Kaiba, who did nothing without ulterior motives. Kaiba, who was probably triumphing at this very moment at having won their little duel, at having forced Yami to reveal his interest, at having gotten such an intimate edge on him. Kaiba, who was probably just waiting for the next opportunity to taunt him.

Yami swiped the keycard to enter the hotel elevator, pathetically grateful that he and Yugi had booked rooms in the same hotel as the bar. It made for quicker escape.

No - Yami hesitated. If Yami was honest with himself, it wasn’t Kaiba’s scorn that had him rattled.

It was shame.

They’d been touching. Kaiba had touched _him_. Yami, after four years of pining, had been about to kiss him. And then -

Yami got into the elevator.

And then he’d shoved Kaiba away the second Yugi came into earshot. Like Kaiba was nothing. Pushed him away out of cowardice, and fear. No apology.

_I should have known you were too much of coward to tell the truth._

At least Kaiba would have the satisfaction of being right.

No wonder Kaiba thought Yami treated people as things to be used. He hadn’t treated Kaiba much better, had he? He’d almost - he’d almost known, they’d almost -

Idiot. He’d never know what they’d almost done, would he? Never know how far Kaiba might have gone, what Kaiba might have _said_ -

Yami leaned his head against the wall of the elevator. The cold of the metal felt good against his pounding veins. He contemplated beating his forehead against it for a while. That might help.

_I never back down from a challenge, Kaiba._

Yami laughed silently. What a joke.

A woman walked into the elevator, interrupting his self-pity.  “Oh. Uh. Rough night, huh?”

“The worst,” Yami sighed. Great. Now he was embarrassing himself in front of strangers. “What floor?”

He could have apologized. He _could_. Explained. Stayed. But even then - Yami had run. His pride had mattered more to him.

“Third?”

Yami wasn’t even sufficiently buzzed to hope that tomorrow, he’d have forgotten the entire incident. No, Yami would be spending the entire wedding avoiding Kaiba like the plague. Or apologizing - as he should have done ten minutes ago - and dealing with Kaiba’s icy politeness.

Yami hit the button for the woman’s floor. He waited for the doors to close.

A booted foot stopped them.  
“Excuse me.” Kaiba strode in, for all the world like he hadn’t noticed Yami. “Fifteenth?”

He wasn’t even breathing hard. Like he’d gotten up from the table the moment Yami left. Like he’d known where Yami was going to go the whole time. Like he didn’t care that Yami had abandoned him; like he wanted him too much to care. And that’s when it hit Yami, the feeling he’d been suppressing all night, this unspeakable need, only it didn’t feel like a need, it felt like a fire, a burning, a moment when he felt like he was to fall to ashes if he didn’t push Kaiba against the nearest wall and find out how much it took to make him cry out. 

And all Yami could think was that in a few moments, they were going to be alone in the elevator.

It took Yami time to wrench back control of his thoughts. To push back to consciousness, remind himself to _stop_.

Unfortunately, just as Yami felt he had control, the elevator lurched. The door opened. The woman left, and they were alone.

Yami took a breath before he spoke, willing his features to stillness. “Why are you here?”

Eyes on the flashing numbers overhead, Kaiba replied: “It’s a hotel elevator. I’ve a room.”

“Kaiba...”  
  
“You know, Yugi and Tea recommended this place in my wedding invitation. Did you get the same one?”

Fear turned to irritation. It was back to Kaiba’s mask, then, back to the calm that so continually frustrated Yami’s attempts to breach it. Utterly unreadable, and vexing as ever. Worse, perhaps, because Yami knew he was responsible for it.

“You know what I mean. Don’t play coy.”

Kaiba half-smiled. “If you insist. I wanted to talk about that unfinished business at the end of the game downstairs.”  

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kaiba flicked his eyes over to him. “Ah. Now it’s your turn to play coy.”

The elevator stopped on an empty floor. 

“The game finished,” Yami said. “I answered your last question.”

“Did you?” Kaiba said, conversational. “Denial’s not your best gambit, Yami. Doesn’t play to your strengths. Now - ” he continued as the elevator took off again. “You know what I think would have happened if Yugi and your other friends hadn’t interrupted?” And oh, Gods, Yami had completely misread the situation - this wasn’t Kaiba’s mask; this wasn’t Kaiba putting up walls, this was the hidden reveal, the card held back from play -

“Wait - ”

“I think you would have kissed me.”

Yami’s entire body went cold.

He opened his mouth to deny it. To say something. Anything.

But instead, he just stood there, completely poleaxed.

A breath, then: “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“There are only so many ways of circling the question," Kaiba looked at him, eyebrow raised. It felt like a blow. " I know what I want. And I think I know what you want. Now, if I’m wrong - ”

The door opened.

Yami glanced up, and froze. Fifteenth floor. 

“Now if I'm wrong. I’ve misread the situation,” Kaiba said, his voice low. “If I’ve misread your interest, or misunderstood what you want from me - tell me now, and I’ll go.”

He could have said no. He could have pretended to misunderstand. He could have given in to every part of his mind telling him that this was a mistake. But instead, Yami pressed the button to shut the elevator door.

“Stay.”

In three steps, Kaiba closed the distance between them. Their lips met in a brutal kiss. Yami grabbed at Kaiba’s waist, then his hips, pulling him until they were flush against each other. Kaiba gave an involuntary gasp, sending a jolt of desire straight down Yami’s spine. And then Kaiba was deepening the kiss, he was coaxing Yami’s mouth open, and now it was Yami’s turn to moan when their tongues met. He leaned back, arching into the kiss, letting Kaiba’s arms hold him up. It was impossible to concentrate on anything but the feeling of Kaiba’s lips, the taste of his mouth.

It was too much, and it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t anywhere near enough.

They broke off slowly, both breathing hard.

“That’s - you’re - ” Yami couldn’t get through a full sentence.

“Yami - ”

“More.”

Before the word was even out of his mouth, Yami had his hands on Kaiba’s collar and was dragging him down for another kiss. Their kiss was hungrier this time, deeper and more bruising. Kaiba shoved Yami against the wall of the elevator, their bodies pushed against each other until there wasn’t a whisper of air between them. The pain felt as good as the rest.

The elevator lurched. The door opened with a cheerful ding.

“The elevator might not have been the best place to do this,” Yami said, staring at the floor number.

“Well, the bar seemed like a bad option at the time,” Kaiba replied.

Then Kaiba pressed his lips to the center of Yami’s collarbone and Yami heard himself moan as though from a far distance,  _please gods let him keep doing this_  -

“Don’t stop,” Yami gasped before he could silence himself and he felt Kaiba hum with pleasure as his mouth moved up Yami’s neck. The elevator doors closed.

“Don’t stop what, Yami?”

Whatever Yami meant to reply was choked off when Kaiba kissed the skin under his ear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“Fuck you.”

“Not in the elevator, surely,” Kaiba said.  And Yami had a mental image of hitting the emergency button, of stopping between floors - they would push aside just the essential clothes, and it would be so _easy_ ; he was so ready, he’d been so ready for so long.

But he didn’t hit the emergency button.

Instead, he gave himself a moment to think. If they went through with this, their relationship would never be the same. They would never again be comfortable rivals, not-friends. He didn’t know what they would be, but they wouldn’t be… that.

But if Yami was honest with himself, that relationship had been over the moment he’d started dreaming of kissing Kaiba.

Yami slid his hands up Kaiba’s back, takes a breath that seems to span hours. “We need to get out of the elevator, then.”

Kaiba took a breath. “Ah. We passed my room about ten floors ago, but - ”

Yami cut him off. “My room’s on the next floor.”

Somehow, they made it out of the elevator. The hallway lights were blazing all around them, much too bright for what was about to happen. Yami felt like he was floating; his mind was everywhere and nowhere, focused on the tiny spot of contact where Kaiba’s hand pressed against his back.

Yami barely noticed when they made it to his door, barely managed to pull out his key card and swipe them in.

_Don’t back down from the challenge._

***

Kaiba closed the door behind them. The room was entirely dark. And silent. Yami had only stopped by for a moment earlier that afternoon, to drop off his suitcase before meeting Yugi at the bar. Now he noticed the wall-to-ceiling windows on one side of the room, giving out on the lights of Vegas below. The city flickered far beneath them. He could see Kaiba’s silhouette, his face catching the light. Almost a stranger. But not quite.

“Are you okay?” Kaiba asked. Yami realized he’d been standing without speaking for far too long.

“Oh. Sorry. Yes. I - ” Yami breathed out. “I’m just not used to doing this.”

“Really? I thought this was sort of your mode of operation.”

Yami looked back at Kaiba. “I don’t have sex with people who know me.”

Much less someone who knew him as intimately as Kaiba did.

“We don’t have to - ”

“I know.” Yami cut Kaiba off. Trying to disguise the shaking of his hands, Yami started taking off his jacket.  

“Wait.” Kaiba’s hands were suddenly on top of Yami’s. “May I?”

Yami nodded, voiceless, dropping his arms to his sides.

Kaiba slid his hands into Yami’s jacket, then slowly traced up Yami’s sides and ribs. Yami gasped as Kaiba circled Yami’s nipples through the thin cloth of his shirt.

“Like that?” Kaiba murmured.

“You - ” Yami arched into Kaiba’s touch, then slumped in wordless protest when Kaiba’s hands moved up to his shoulders. “ You know I do.”

“Hm. I didn’t,” Kaiba, pushing Yami’s jacket fully off of his shoulders, trailing goosebumps down Yami’s arms as he did. “But now - ”

The jacket dropped to the ground. Kaiba started on the buttons of Yami’s shirt. “Should I keep going?” he asked, voice still level - and how dare his voice be so calm when even the sensation of Kaiba’s fingers through cloth was making it difficult for Yami to breath.

“ _Yes_.”

“Ah. A straight answer,” and Yami could hear the smile through Kaiba’s voice. “Or maybe not so straight. About time.” He finished unbuttoning Yami’s shirt.

“Is it so hard to tell what I want?”

“Sometimes,” Kaiba said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m happy to… discover.”

Kaiba kissed Yami again, and his kiss was slower this time, surprisingly gentle. Yami felt himself relaxing into the kiss even as he felt himself growing harder, even as the sensation of Kaiba’s lips on his own made the blood rush to his cock in a way that was almost painful.

And then Kaiba moved his hips and Yami realized Kaiba was just as hard as he was - Yami broke the kiss, panting.

“I want you to fuck me.” The words spilled out of him and Yami felt his face grow hot.

“I can do that.”

Kaiba’s hand pressed against Yami’s cock, then stroked up. Even through the layers of clothes, the sensation sent Yami bucking up into Kaiba with a quiet cry.

“I want you to push me against a wall and take me,” Yami said, voice nearly breaking.

“I can definitely do that.”

“Then what are you waiting - ”

Whatever Yami was about to say was lost when Kaiba claimed his mouth in a ruthless kiss. They broke apart for a second as Kaiba suddenly pushed Yami up the wall and Yami wrapped his legs tightly around Kaiba’s waist. Then their lips met again, eager and hot, and there was no space left for thinking, or talking, or questions, just the taste of Kaiba in his mouth, the sensation of Kaiba’s hands on his ass, on his back, clasping his hair -

Without breaking the kiss, Kaiba lifted Yami from the wall and half-walked, half-staggered them across the room.

Jesus, he’s strong, Yami thought, giddy, then gasped as he felt something cold pressing on his back. Not the bed. The window. Yami felt a surge of pleasure at the danger. And then Kaiba was just bracing Yami up against the glass with the weight of his body, his hands pinning Yami’s wrists to the window until Yami could barely breathe from the heady combination of arousal and fear.

But it was Kaiba, not Yami, who had to break the kiss this time.

“Like that, did you?” Yami said.

Kaiba laughed, out of breath. He leaned back slightly, letting Yami’s feet slide to the floor. But he kept Yami’s wrists pinned above his head. The restraint was its own source of heat. “You know I did,” Kaiba said, repeating Yami’s own reply.

Yami grinned. “What did you like, exactly, Kaiba? Kissing me? Having me beg you to fuck me?”

Kaiba raked his teeth across Yami’s collarbone, and Yami shuddered. “Both.”

“Ego, Kaiba,” Yami said, breathless. “You know, I wondered if you needed as much control in the bedroom as you do in the life - ”

He could see a smile on his rival’s face. “Sometimes.”

Yami laughed and tried to free his wrists. Kaiba’s grip was iron. “Only sometimes?”

“Only sometimes.” Kaiba leaned in. “And you’re hardly one to talk about wanting control, Yami.” He pushing hard against Yami’s body until Yami could feel the glass pressing against every inch of his back, his thighs and his arms.

“The window - ”

“Do you want me to stop?”

Yami gasped. “ _No_.” Gods, what was wrong with him that this was sending pulses of pleasure up his cock - “Give me more.”

Kaiba pushed him harder onto the glass. “Do you remember those men, Yami? All those men you’ve slept with before?”

The relentless excitement in Yami’s body made it hard for him to speak. “Jealous, Kaiba?”

“Hmm. What was the word you used? Remember when you told me you _liked_ fucking them?” Kaiba raked his eyes over Yami’s body. “Liked. What an… interesting choice of words. I could almost feel sorry for them. One thing I can promise you, Yami. When we’re done, you won’t say this was something you _liked_.”

Oh gods - before Yami could think of anything to say - before Yami could conjure up words beyond the wall of lust that had hit him through the spine, Kaiba let go of his wrists. And then Kaiba was unbuttoning Yami’s trousers; his hands were drawing out Yami’s cock, and Yami could no longer think at all.

In a smooth gesture, Kaiba sank to one knee and lowered his mouth onto Yami’s cock.

Oh, fuck.

For an awful, incredible moment, Yami thought he would come from just that. From just the indescribable surge of warmth from Kaiba’s mouth - _Kaiba’s_ mouth - around his cock. He bit back a scream.

Kaiba slid his mouth down Yami’s cock, taking more and more of him in, his pace excruciatingly slow. His eyes flickered up and met Yami’s, pools of black, blown out with desire. And suddenly, Kaiba stopped being slow. He buried his face into Yami’s torso, until Yami’s entire cock was in his mouth.

Yami bucked towards Kaiba; his cock hit the back of Kaiba’s throat. This time, Yami couldn’t bite back the scream. Nor could he keep himself from clutching at Kaiba’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

Kaiba made a satisfied sound, sending vibrations straight up Yami. He pulled back, and carefully detached Yami’s fingers from his shoulders -

Then placed Yami’s hand on the back of his own head.

“Set the pace.”

Yami drew a sharp breath. His hand clenched around Kaiba’s hair. Kaiba’s eyes widened. With pain - and very evident pleasure. Yami filed that observation away for later use. “What?”

“You heard me, Yami. Set your pace,” Kaiba said. And he took Yami’s cock in his mouth again. Yami swallowed. The directive was impossible to resist.

He had a sudden vision of fucking Kaiba’s mouth, pinning him in place and thrusting into him with abandon until he came -

Gods, that was what Kaiba _wanted_ , wasn’t it? And Yami groaned, watching Kaiba sucking him, watching Kaiba eagerly taking his cock, watching Kaiba letting himself be pulled and pushed down onto his cock, Kaiba letting himself be used, _wanting_ to be used like this.

His head fell back against the glass, trembling with the sensation of Kaiba’s mouth on him, and his hands in Kaiba’s hair. The only sounds in the room were his gasping breaths, and the frankly obscene wet sounds coming from Kaiba.

“So you like it fast,” Kaiba said, his voice frustratingly level as he pulled off Yami’s cock for a breath.

Yami laughed. There was something about Kaiba’s discovery and anatomizing of Yami’s preferences he found almost endearing. “Very much.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Kaiba replied, before dipping his head to swirl his tongue around the tip of Yami’s cock.

Yami pushed back into Kaiba’s mouth. “You can take it.”

Yami could feel Kaiba grinning around him.

The image of Kaiba’s mouth around his cock, Kaiba on his _knees_ in front of him, Yami’s hands threading his hair, was going to be seared in Yami’s head like a brand. Yami’s breathing was getting more and more irregular as Kaiba picked up the pace - as Yami picked up Kaiba’s pace. He knew he was thrusting into Kaiba’s mouth, that he could barely process the barrage of sensations, that he could barely keep from closing his eyes but he needed to see this - Yami caught Kaiba’s eyes, and his orgasm hit, the room evaporating at the edges as a white-hot flood of pleasure took him.

It occurred to Yami as he came, that he was in serious trouble.

That he never would have allowed someone - not even during sex, _certainly_ not during sex -  to push him against a window, thirty stories off the ground.

But that loss of control made him only come all the harder.

And then there was nothing but the rise and fall of breath for a long time.

When his mind cleared, ridiculous phrases rose into Yami’s head. Ones Yami couldn’t imagine saying to anyone, much less Kaiba. Sentences like “you look beautiful on your knees” and “your mouth is incredible.”

But Yami’s filter always evaporated after orgasm. “Where in the world did you learn to suck cock like that?”

He flushed, expecting a snide remark. But Kaiba was laughing as he rose to his feet. “Around.”

“Just around?” Yami twined his arms around Kaiba’s neck. “I’m shocked you haven’t claimed natural aptitude.”

“You of all people, Yami, should know that talent is nothing without practice.”

“Oh?” Heat rose in Yami’s stomach at the thought of what _practice_ meant, of Kaiba on his knees in front of other men, in front of many other men. Jealousy, yes, and arousal and so much need - more need than could possibly be appropriate after Yami had just come. “And how much practice have you gotten?”

“Uncountable.”

Yami made a raw noise before he could stop himself and pulled Kaiba down, kissing him with desperation. Kaiba shifted his weight, and suddenly, Yami was pressed against the window again, and yes, he’d wanted that too, the fear and the cold and Kaiba’s mouth - _Gods_ that man could kiss.

“You know, I’ve had practice too,” Yami said, as soon as he could breathe again.

“Yes?” And Yami could hear the desire in Kaiba’s voice, the fractious need breaking through the careful control. “At what?”

Yami loosened the top two buttons of Kaiba’s shirt, and pressed a kiss to the V of skin revealed beneath.

“Why don’t you find out?.”

A quick breath, then - “I need to get you to a bed.”

And then, as if from a great distance, he could feel his body go slack in Kaiba’s embrace. A rift opened, a chasm of cold that split Yami’s insides, and then - blackness and fear.

Yami blinked hard to drag himself back into the present, where Kaiba’s expression was worried, and Yami’s knees were locked because his thighs were shaking -

_No_.

“Yami?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you - ”

“I just was dizzy for a second. Let’s go.” He started moving, ignoring the lingering cold in his muscles.

After a moment, Yami turned around.

Kaiba wasn’t following him.

“You know, that’s the second time in this room you’ve gone quiet for longer than a minute.” Kaiba said, words very deliberate. “The second time you’ve insisted on carrying on, no questions asked. And I’m not at all comfortable going to bed with you until I know why you’re hesitating.”

“I’m not hesitating. I’m - ” Yami bit back a response.  _More than a minute?_ “I’m fine.”

Kaiba sighed. “Yes. Of course you are. But that’s not what I was getting at, and you know it.” He passed a hand through his hair. “Let me ask you another question, Yami. Do you still want to do this? Or are you refusing to back down as a matter of principle?”

“I never realized questions were such a turn-on for you.”

“They’re my favorite aphrodisiac,” Kaiba said. “But that’s not an answer to the question, is it? So try again. Do you want me to fuck you tonight?”

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Yami tried one more time. “Kaiba - you know what I want.”

“No. I don’t.” Kaiba took a step towards him. “And if I don’t find out, I will leave. Because we’re not doing this so you can prove something. And we’re not doing this if you’re too drunk or scared. So let me ask again, Yami: are you _sure_ you want me to fuck you tonight?”

A minute, thirty seconds ago, Yami would have known his answer. Now -

Yami knew one thing, and that’s that he didn’t want Kaiba to leave. Trapped, then. He’d wasted his one shot through his cowardice. If he was honest, surely Kaiba would leave anyway.

“I’m not sure.” The dull cold in his veins pounded harder. He clenched his fists against the pain. “I don’t know.”

He breathed in and out. “It’s what I want. But I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“Tell me why.”

Yami could picture the exact expression of disdain - perhaps disappointment - on Kaiba’s face when he would tell him. The blunt excuses, the word that cut him down to nothingness. He wished he could throw open the window instead of just staring out of it, wished he could feel the cool of Vegas air on his body rather than just the brittle cold inside of it.

Yami flinched when fingers touched his sides. Kaiba’s hands were so gentle. It was easy to believe he wasn’t about to slice him open.

“Is this okay?”

Yami nodded.

“I told you,” Yami started, and had to stop and start again. “I told you this is new to me. Not just being with you. I’ve never -” He thought about how best to phrase it, and then got frustrated with himself for being embarrassed. There was no euphemism for this. Direct was better. “I’ve always been on top.”

He braced himself for Kaiba’s derision. Or worse, for the quiet withdrawal that would indicate the end of his interest.

“All right.”

“All right?” The effort it had taken him to say that - and this was the reaction? Finally, he could look up at Kaiba, but now it was with annoyance. “Is that all you have to say?”

“Thank you for telling me.” Fingers slid across Yami’s lips, as though tracing the outline of his mouth, and Yami leaned into to his touch without thinking. “I think you’re right. It’s a bad idea for me to fuck you.”

Yami’s voice was strained. “Why not?”

“Because I’m drunk. And I suspect you’re very drunk. Which means I doubt I’m capable of restraint, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

Yami heard a wild noise that he only later realized had come from him: “I want  _you._ I don’t want your restraint.”

“I know you don’t.” Kaiba’s reply was ruthless. “That’s why we can’t.”

It was clear there would be no arguing with him.

Worse, he was right. When had Kaiba - Kaiba, of Death-T fame; Kaiba, who had once stood on the edge of a parapet, threatening suicide to win a match; Kaiba, who threw himself in front of guns armed with nothing but playing cards - turned into the advocate for healthy decision-making? 

If Yami thought he could rely on one thing in this encounter, it was Kaiba’s ruthless propensity for taking what he wanted, damn the consequences. Certainly, damn the consequences for Yami.

Of course, the image Yami had in his head of Kaiba was taking quite a beating tonight.

And Kaiba always did have a gift for the long game, the card held back from play for so long  it seemed to come out of nowhere. Although what game Kaiba was playing now, with his arms still around Yami, stroking his back in long, slow caresses, was beyond his understanding.

“So,” Yami asked. No point drawing it out. “Are you going to leave now?”

“Yami - ” Kaiba turned Yami’s face up towards him. “You’re so stubborn,  you know that?”

There was that amused tone Yami knew so well, though this time it was laced with something else. “Stubborn?”

Kaiba leaned in slightly. “If you want me, Yami, then - take me.”

Yami’s body switched with obscene speed from despair to arousal. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I’m saying I don’t want to leave this room without getting fucked.” A pause. “And I hear you’re very practiced at it.”

A moment later, they were kissing, lips hardly touching but tongues searing hot- Yami broke off only to gasp - “You _fuck_.”

“That’s the idea.”

“I didn’t think you wanted - ”

“You clearly don’t have the first idea what I want.” Kaiba’s hands against his back, pulling him closer. “Are you going to find out?”

“Hm.” Yami felt a smile burning on his face because this - _this_ he knew how to do. “Right now, I think it’s about what I want, don’t you?” Unbuttoning the rest of Kaiba’s shirt and pushing it off his shoulders, holding back a sigh at the feeling of Kaiba’s skin under his hands. “And what I want right now is for you to take off your clothes, and go lie on the bed.”

“Are you giving orders now?”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

The sharp inhale of breath was all he needed for an answer. Yami let him go. “No? Then get on the goddamn bed.”

Kaiba grinned and walked away, letting the shirt fall off his back. Every part of his body was new to Yami, from the lean muscles across his arms to the taper of his waist. He’d seen Kaiba before, of course - there was nothing unfamiliar, and it wasn’t like he’d never seen a naked man before -

Yami forced himself to look through his dueling bag for supplies. The condoms and lube Yami found in the front pocket of his dueling bag made it very clear that he hadn’t cleaned it out since his last tournament. Somehow, Yami couldn’t find it in himself to be too frustrated. Getting all this way just to be foiled by a lack of adequate protection would be… anti-climactic.

“An entire box of condoms?” Kaiba said, interrupting his reverie. “Ambitious, Yami.”

Yami set the box down on the bedside table. “Always be prepared.”

“You know the Girl Scouts?”

Yami finally looked over at Kaiba. Per his orders, he was lying on the bed, propped up by the hotel’s massive pillows, perfectly naked. Yami felt his entire chest flush. 

“Girl Scouts? No?” He thought about it for another second. “Reconnaissance troops? Young female reconnaissance troops?”

Kaiba laughed. “Not exactly.”

“Oh?” If Yami had avoided watching Kaiba while he undressed, Kaiba was not doing him the same favor. It was easier, undressing in front of a stranger. He’d spent so long building up his walls around Kaiba that exposing himself felt wrong -

Although the heat in Kaiba’s gaze was slowly burning through any embarrassment.

Kaiba reached out a hand to him.

Yami caught his wrist, traced a line down from Kaiba’s hand to the hollow of his elbow, tiny goosebumps trailing in the wake of Yami’s fingers. 

“So, who are the Girl Scouts?”

“Seriously?” Kaiba said. It would be hard not to hear the impatience in Kaiba’s voice. “This is the conversation you want to have now?”

“Well, you started it.”

“And now I’m sorry I did, if all we’re going to do is -

And then Yami was pressing Kaiba down into the bed, pining his arms back, kissing him with brutality; pushing him down so their bodies were pressed closer, even though there was _nothing closer_ than this; Kaiba was gasping with pleasure and Yami felt his body scorched with the sound.

Yami lifted his head up slightly. “You were saying?”

“ _Fuck_.”  

“Not yet.” Yami tightened his grip around Kaiba’s forearms a little more. “Let’s see if I can guess what else you like first.”

Yami dropped his mouth onto Kaiba’s collarbone and slid it up the curve of his neck. He could taste the salt on Kaiba’s skin, sense the pounding of his blood in his veins speeding up, feel the heat in his muscles -

“Yami - ”

Whatever Kaiba was about to say was lost in a wordless cry as Yami pressed an open-mouthed kiss to Kaiba’s chest, then bit down. He felt Kaiba’s entire body go rigid against him.

Yami took a breath, afraid he’d gone too far, then looked up at Kaiba’s face.

“Do you want me to stop?”

Kaiba shook his head, the predatory grin Yami loved so much back on his face. “Harder.”

Yami laughed, a sound half of relief and half of satisfaction. He’d suspected, earlier, but -  Deliberately, he lowered his head to Kaiba’s skin, licking a long path up towards his neck, feeling Kaiba tremble. His eyes on Kaiba’s, he clamped down.

Kaiba cried out and shut his eyes.

“Again?”

" _Yes_.”

“Harder?”

He could feel Kaiba’s breath hitch. “Yes.”

And Yami obliged.

_“I wondered if you needed as much control in the bedroom as you do in life - ”_

_“Sometimes.”_

_“Only sometimes?”_

So this is what it felt like when Kaiba gave up control.

_He’s so beautiful like this -_

“Why am I not surprised that you enjoy pain?”

“I don’t - ” Kaiba gasped as Yami traced the outline of one of the bite marks with his tongue. “I don’t enjoy pain.”

“Hmm, really?” Yami let go of Kaiba’s arms, and slid a hand down to grasp Kaiba’s cock. He stroked, watching Kaiba’s eyes widen and his head drop back under his touch - then bit him again. Kaiba’s entire back came off the bed.

“You could have fooled me.”

“That’s - you’re -”

“Language may be a bit difficult for you right now,” Yami said, shifting to give himself more room to work. “I suggest not trying to talk - that’s it- ” he said, watching Kaiba’s head roll back under his touch.

Kaiba hissed with pleasure. “It’s not pain I enjoy so much,” he said after a moment, then bit back a cry as Yami continued to stroke him. “I - ah - I enjoy pain when you give it to me.”

Yami had to catch his breath. “Goddamn it, Kaiba. You’re going to make me come without even touching me.”

“Don’t you dare. I want you inside me when you come.”

“You’re so greedy.”

“This is the first time you’ve noticed?”

“Fuck you," Yami said, grabbing the lube from the bedside table.

Yami noticed with satisfaction how quickly Kaiba was breathing as he slicked up his fingers. He could feel Kaiba’s heart beating against his skin, the almost feverish warmth of his skin, and wondered if Kaiba could feel the same from him, interpret the same signs, the raw need. Because if Kaiba was feverish, Yami was a forest fire. He _needed,_ and felt need pulsing through him, and was half surprised that the sheets hadn’t burned at the touch of his skin.

“Do you want -  ”  
  
“Yes.” Kaiba’s hand on his wrist, holding him back. “Just - go slow. It’s been a few months since I’ve done this.”

Yami looked down at Kaiba, looked - _down_ \- at him, a position he’d never have expected either of them to be in just a few hours ago, and was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of emotion he couldn’t place. “Of course.” He held his voice steady, but his voiced hitched before asking the next question. “Do you trust me?”

Kaiba didn’t hesitate. “Without question.”

And the next moment he was arcing hard off the bed, crying out as Yami pushed his first finger inside. Yami twisted his finger slowly, revelling in the sight below him and then dropped his head to bite the sensitive spot on Kaiba’s shoulder. At Yami’s utter mercy and oh god it was so good to feel him like this, to push into him - he pushed deeper and felt Kaiba tense suddenly - there, just there -

“God _damn_ you” Kaiba gasped, coming back down.

“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” Yami asked, raising an eyebrow. “Should I stop?”

“Don’t you dare - ” and Kaiba pulled him down, kissing the beginning of a smirk off of Yami’s face.

“Tell me what you need” Yami whispered, his lips inches from Kaiba’s ear.

“More.”

Yami laughed. “You said to go slow.”

“I lied. I need you now, Yami, please, give me - ” Kaiba broke off as Yami slid another finger in, hissing with pleasure.

“God, yes,” Yami was unable to contain himself. “You’re so beautiful like this, Kaiba - so fucking beautiful - ” And he would feel embarrassed for saying it later, but not now, never now, when it had never been more true.

Kaiba was gasping under his ministrations, body trembling with pleasure. “I want your cock. I want your cock _now_.”

Yami’s vision went nearly white with lust. “Are you ready? Do you need - ”

“Yami, if you make me wait any longer, I’m going to walk out of this room.”

“And get arrested for public nudity?”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Yami replied, trying to keep his voice steady, even as his hands shook with anticipation. Yami tore open the condom packet and slid it on, adding another generous dose of lube.

Yami knelt between Kaiba’s legs. Without prompting, Kaiba lifted his hips up and wrapped his legs around Yami’s waist, lining their bodies up.

Yami half-laughed. “Always prepared?”

“Just eager.”

“So am I,” Yami said. He carded his fingers through Kaiba’s hair, brushing a few strands away from his face. “Ready?”

Yami could suddenly feel every thump of his heart against his chest. He tightened his fingers around Kaiba’s hips, using the other hand to maneuver his cock -

A push, an awkward adjustment, and another push, and Yami slid in.

_Fuck_.  

Then their hands were on each other, and they were kissing, open mouthed and raw with hunger and Yami was thrusting into Kaiba and Kaiba was gasping against Yami’s lips as ripples of blinding heat filled Yami’s body. “Am I - ”

“Almost,” Kaiba said. “Almost - just angle up a bit - oh god, yes, just _there -_ ”

Kaiba tightened his legs around Yami’s waist. “Harder.”

Yami hesitated.“Are you sure?”

“Goddamn you, _yes_ . Don’t keep hesitating; I’m not going to break if you touch me, Yami, fucking take me, pound me, give me everything you have, _fuck me_ , stop holding back - ”

Yami let out a strangled, desperate noise and surged forward, pushing deeper, relentless, his fingers digging into Kaiba’s hips to pull him back onto his cock. Kaiba hissed in pleasure. “More.”

“More? You want more?” Yami said.  “I should have known you’d want it like this - brutal, and filthy, and never enough - ”

“What else did you expect?” Kaiba gasped, and pulled Yami down for a searing kiss. “Nothing is ever enough for me.”

“Flip over,” Yami ordered. “Get on your knees.”

Not a flicker of reluctance in Kaiba’s eyes as he complied, bracing himself against the headboard. Yami pushed his cock back into him easily, and that groan - it could have come from either of them. It might have come from both.

“Why have you stopped?”

“You’re unbelievable,” Yami gasped.

“Aren’t you enjoying this, Yami?” Even on his hands and knees, Kaiba managed to sound superior

“Of course I’m enjoying this,” Yami said, his voice thin. “You know how much I’m enjoying this. I need this - ”

“Then do it.”

The words weren’t even out of Kaiba’s mouth when Yami was pulling him back onto his cock. Kaiba cried out, scrambling for purchase against the headboard. Then Yami was pounding into him with near-abandon, finding a rough, relentless rhythm that made Kaiba gasp with every thrust.

Yami’s whole world narrowed to this - the movement of their bodies, the raw burning of pleasure, the way Kaiba looked under him, body in darkness, features illuminated by the light from the window. The noise Kaiba made when Yami pressed their bodies together, kissing his throat, licking the reddening bite marks.

“You’re so fucking needy,” Kaiba whispered.

“You’re one to talk.” Yami punctuating his retort with a deep thrust, pushing Kaiba harder against the headboard. Kaiba’s knuckles went white, barely holding on.

“ _Fuck_ , Yami” Kaiba pushed back, straightening his arms. “How could I ever have enough of _this_? Do you think there’s ever enough, when it’s you?”

Yami very nearly came, hearing that. He clamped down on his building orgasm. “I want you to come. I want to _feel_ you come around me. Come for me, Kaiba, please - ”

Kaiba twisted around, pulling Yami into an impossible kiss that left them both breathless. “Make me.”

“Why are you still talking?” Yami said. “I should gag you next time; I’ll only be able to hear you scream - ”

Kaiba actually whined, his back trembling against Yami’s chest.  
  
“Oh, you like that idea, do you?” Yami whispered, gently sliding his fingers around Kaiba’s neck, close to his face - “Maybe I should do it now if you like it so much - ”

“God, yes, do it - ” and then the next second Yami’s other hand found Kaiba’s cock and Kaiba’s entire body went rigid. Yami barely had time to stroke Kaiba’s cock before Kaiba cried out and came.

Whatever self-control remained in Yami disappeared when he felt Kaiba’s come all over his hand. One more thrust and he was gone, the rhythm of pleasure so deep pulling him under, dragging him down.

It took Yami a minute, maybe more - hopefully not more -  to find his way back. He’d fallen against Kaiba’s back, body still shuddering through the aftershocks. Kaiba was braced against the headboard, holding them both up, breathing hard.

Yami sat up quickly, pulling his weight off of Kaiba. He could see red marks on Kaiba’s hips where his hands had been, the beginnings of bruises.

Kaiba collapsed onto his back, wincing a little.

“Fuck. Sorry.”

“What for?” Kaiba said. “We both clearly needed that.”

And Yami could feel the anxiety melt straight off of him as Kaiba pulled him down for a long kiss. Yami gasped quietly into Kaiba’s mouth when Kaiba’s hands trailed down his back, when Kaiba’s legs entwine with his. He pulled back, kissing Kaiba’s cheekbones, his eyelids, his jaw. His fingers traced a line down Kaiba’s neck. Kaiba pulled him in for another languorous kiss, and Yami pressed his palm to Kaiba’s chest, feeling the quick rise and fall of his breath.

When their lips parted, Kaiba whispered: “Not to break the mood, but are you aware that your hand is covered in come?”

Yami burst out laughing.

“Whose fault is that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kaiba said, voice very dry. Yami laughed again, and grabbed the box of tissues, wiping down his hands and striping off the condom. “Pass me the tissues?”

Yami handed them over and rolled to the other side of the bed to look for the trash.  
  
“It’s on my side.” Kaiba said. “Here - are you cold?”

“I think it’s the AC.” He hadn’t felt it before, but now that they were no longer touching, Yami knew he was shivering.  
  
“American hotels,” Kaiba said, rolling his eyes. He rolled over and threw the mass of tissues away. “Come over here.”

He drew Yami down, pulling the duvet over both of them. Yami rested his head on Kaiba shoulder, feeling the warmth of Kaiba’s body seeping into him.

“Better?”

“Much.”

Kaiba wrapped his arm around Yami, settling further into the pillow. His body was soft, muscles relaxed after the release of orgasm. 

Yami wanted to stay awake longer, to memorize this moment - the feeling of Kaiba’s skin against his, the sound of his heartbeat, the quiet between them. He wanted to remember every sensation, in case they were never here again.

But he was too tired, and Kaiba’s embrace too warm, to keep his eyes open for long.


	6. Blockade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blockade: In chess, the severe restraint of an enemy’s position so that that they cannot easily find active play.

_2 and a half months later..._

Yami woke up, for the first time in weeks, to the blare of his phone. He lunged for it, knocked over his water - _shit_ \- before realizing he’d left it in what passed for his kitchen. Half-falling out of the bed, he ran and checked the caller ID.

“Yugi?”

“Mai and I are on our way!” Yugi’s horrifyingly cheerful voice responded. “We’re stopping at a crêpe shop; what do you want?”

 _On our way_? Yami glanced at the clock. 7:30. What in the world were Mai and Yugi doing on their way to Yami’s apartment at 7:30 in the morning?

Yugi was still waiting for an answer. “Strawberry, please?”

“Chocolate?”

Yami couldn’t even remember whether strawberries were a fruit this early in the morning. “Uh - ”

“Great! We’ll see you in ten minutes!”

Yami checked his calendar. Sure enough, he’d penciled in a group appointment with Mai and Yugi - he groaned - to discuss the upcoming dueling season. For eight in the morning. They must have arranged this meeting months ago, before Yugi’s wedding - Yami had absolutely no memory of it. What in the world had he been thinking?

Well, no time to think now.

Yami pulled on a pair of clean pants, a shirt and socks, brushed his teeth, washed his face and did… whatever could be done with his hair. Five minutes.

Made his bed, then ran around the apartment hiding anything he didn’t want Yugi to see at a speed that broke the sound barrier - overflowing laundry basket in the closet, takeout containers in the trash, no gay erotica anywhere (not that he kept that out in the first place), all medications in a box in the closet (surely Yugi wouldn’t riffle through a box in the closet?) 

One minute.

Poured water into the kettle, turned on the stove. Looked in his cabinet and froze. He was out of tea.

The doorbell rang.

 _Shit_.

Yami ushered Mai and Yugi into his apartment.

“I haven’t seen you since the wedding!” Mai said, pulling him in for a one-armed hug. “Where have you been hiding?”

“It’s good to see you too, Mai. You want a plate for that crêpe?”

She gave him a look and took a seat on his very small couch. “Please, Yami. I’m a professional. I don’t need a plate.”

“I got you extra chocolate,” Yugi said, claiming his hug in turn. “And a coffee.”

“Oh, thank the Gods,” Yami said with feeling. “You’re a lifesaver. I’m out of tea.”

Yami went to the bedroom to grab the folding chair he kept under the bed, and put it across from the couch so they could all sit, then took the coffee from Yugi. He sighed with relief as the caffeine hit his throat. There weren't a lot of compensations to having his own body, but coffee was one of them. 

“Yami, this place is immaculate,” Mai said. She’d left the couch and was wandering around the room. Not that there was far to wander.  

Yami swallowed down more coffee. “Thanks?”

“No, I mean…” she walked into the bedroom, not pausing to ask permission - across the table, Yugi rolled his eyes affectionately. “It’s so immaculate, it’s like no one lives here.”

Yami found it harder to swallow. 

Mai returned to perch on the couch. “My place, you can barely walk to my bed, I have so many clothes stacked up. I’ve got no idea how you do it.”

“I like to clean, I suppose.”

“Wish I liked to clean,” she grumbled. “Anyway, it’s a nice apartment. Even if it is fifteen minutes away from the train.”

There was an easy explanation for that. “Cheaper.”

“You could always move in with Sugoroku again,” Yugi said. “Or Anzu and I would love to have you - ”

Oh yes, moving in with two happy newlyweds, that was Yami’s idea of fun. “We’ve had this discussion before,” Yami replied. They had. Many times. “It’s good for me to have my own place.”

Even if being far away from Yugi, when once they’d been so close that there was no space between their breaths, was sometimes an absence so visceral Yami felt it as a physical pain.

“Is Anzu back in the country?” Mai asked Yugi, giving Yami an opening to eat his crêpe.

Yugi shook his head. “Three more weeks in Vegas before the company starts touring in Japan.”

“Man, that stinks.”

“We’re used to it. And I got to spend two months with her after the wedding.”

“Did you just get back?”

“No, I got back two weeks ago. I’ve been bothering Yami ever since, haven’t I?”

He slapped Yami on the back, causing Yami to choke on his bite of crêpe. It was true - Yami had gotten dragged to at three art shows and two coffee dates since Yugi’d returned to Japan, ostensibly to “catch up.” Yami suspected Yugi was lonely, which was the only reason he hadn’t abandoned him in the middle of the “Modern Zoological Art” exhibit. He thought it was an art exhibit about animals, not paintings of politicians wearing animal masks.

Having downed about half the coffee and finished the crepe, Yami felt significantly more ready to face the day. Or at least Mai and Yugi helping him with his career.

“Okay. I’m good. Should we talk?”

Mai pulled out a legal pad, suddenly all business. “Yugi, you brought the calendar of competitions, right? Registrations?”

Yugi muttered an answered, diving into his backpack. Yami took the opportunity to drink some more of the coffee - maybe he wasn’t quite ready for this.

When he and Yugi were competing together, he wouldn’t have needed to do anything this complicated. But Duel Monsters had exploded in the past five years, going from a hobby to a fully professional occupation, with rankings, national teams, sponsors, television deals, looped tournaments... Most duelists needed at least a coach and a publicist to keep everything straight and remain financially solvent.

Often, Yami missed the simplicity of the old days of dueling. Sure, everyone was trying to kill him, but at least he wasn’t trying to juggle rankings with sponsorships with tournament applications. 

But there were compensations. Yami earned an income now, a small one from tournament prizes and sponsorships, but an income nonetheless. He didn’t need to subside on Yugi’s generosity. And while the tournaments were less deadly, the prizes had become infinitely prestigious.

Okay, and avoiding death was nice. 

Usually. 

“So. Your second year on the Elite circuit is over,” Mai said. “What’s your goal for this season?”

“I want to go to Worlds,” Yami said without hesitation.

Mai and Yugi glanced at each other. Yami waited, trying to quell his anxiety. He had no coach, no publicist - he had Mai and Yugi instead. To him, they were worth any professional team in the business. Mai had been a successful Elite duelist for three years before she quit to return to school; she’d won two World Cups and placed second in the Grand Prix. She knew how to navigate a world that was now unfamiliar to him. And Yugi… Yugi he trusted implicitly. If they told him this wasn’t the season to try for Worlds, he’d agree.

“It’s not a bad year to try,” Yugi said, words coming slowly. “We always said the first season or two, you should stay low profile, establish your own credentials so people weren’t always comparing you to the King of Games. It’s been two years now. And I’ve been retired for five - that should be enough to create a separation between the two of us. Mai?”

“We could wait another year if we wanted to play it safe,” Mai said, looking at a sheet. Yami suppressed a groan. “Give you more time to establish a presence, make sure no one starts digging into your background, finds out that being Yugi’s “cousin” is as solid as quicksand.” And then she looked up and grinned. “But you’ve never been one for safety, have you, Yami? We’ve already pushed your limits by keeping you from the big leagues for two years. Yes. If you want to go for the World Championship, this is the year.”

Yami pumped a fist in the air. Yugi clapped in excitement. At the beginning of Yami’s solo career, they’d all agreed that coming out of nowhere to win every tournament would be a bad idea, particularly given his physical similarities to Yugi - he needed a solid history of competition. Not to mention that Yami wasn’t sure how he would fare in major tournaments without Yugi at his side. But Yami was tired of winning matches against people he could take out in his sleep. He'd been tired of it a year ago. Duel Monsters now included a National Championship, a Grand Prix, a World Championship - and Yami hadn't touched any of them. But he would. 

"Finally!" Yugi slapped Yami's back. "You're going to reclaim the throne. Reforge the blade! Renew the - 

“The problem’s going to be getting you on the World Team,” Mai soldiered on, ignoring Yugi's enthusiasm. “Japan’s got three slots, and two of them are all but spoken for - Sae Miyachi’s got the first, as the current world champion, and Shinji Kato just won Japanese Nationals, so he’s got a slot. That leaves us one.”

“And you couldn’t go to Japanese Nationals because of my wedding,” Yugi reminded Yami.

“Which was much better anyways,” Yami said.

“You’re currently ranked 13th in Japan, so there’s no reason they’d put you in the third slot - ”

“Thirteenth!” Yugi was outraged. “He has a perfect win-loss record! He’s won every match he’s been in! What’s the number one seed done, beaten people and then thrown his opponents into a volcano?”

Mai sighed. “Over and over we keep explaining to you that rankings aren’t about how often you beat people, but about _who_ you beat. Yami’s been doing lower profile tournaments, so the duelists he beats aren’t particularly high ranked, hence his comparatively low total.”

“So the selection committee won’t even think about me,” Yami finished. “They think I’m a very competent duelist who can do average meets, but not high profile ones.”

“Only one solution to that,” Mai said. “You’ve got to place top three in the Grand Prix.”

The Grand Prix was, next to the World Championship, the year's most prestigious competition. There were six feeder tournaments - the World Cups - and only the top eight duelists from the World Cups were invited to the final competition. Duelists had to participate in two World Cups to be ranked for the Grand Prix.

“Given the ranking system, that means winning, or placing in the top two, of two World Cups,” Yugi said, checking his notes. “I think the lowest ranked entrant last year was 2nd at one, and 4th at another, but you don’t want to take that risk; sometimes the lowest ranked has much higher numbers. Easier to win. Which should be easy for you." 

“And that’s why we brought the registrations!” Mai said, suddenly cheerful. “Yugi! Give me the packet.”

Yami groaned. He liked registering for tournaments about as much as he liked doing his taxes - another 21st century invention he wasn’t too fond of - but Mai loved it.

“You’ve already got an invite to the top 15 for the Hong Kong Trophy because of the tournaments you did in China last year, so we’re going to register you for that one; you’ll get to avoid a day of competition that way. Unfortunately, 13th in Japan does not automatically qualify you for the Tokyo Cup, and you’ve not qualified anywhere else, so we need to pick another tournament to register you for, and then you’ll get to have a fun day or two of dueling your way into the top 8 - ”

Yami groaned again. He hated cattle-call style tournaments - hundreds of competitors whittled down over the course of a day or two, until the very best were invited to join the official qualifiers. It was like Duelist Kingdom all over again, _sans_ child kidnapping, and with crankier referees.

“Has anyone ever won a Grand Prix without being an official invitee?” Yugi asked.

Mai shook her head. “Highest placement from a walk-on so far is… the canadian Jake Murray, who made it in the final my year. Placed seventh. Nice kid. He works on an oyster farm now.”

Yami made a face.“So you’re telling me that my fate is to work on an oyster farm?”

“Hey, it’s a paid gig. Regular hours.”

Yami laughed, and turned his attention down to the ream of papers Mai presented him. Tired as he was, it still felt easy to keep his focus through the rest of the morning, as he and Mai debated tournaments, looked at start lists, tried to guess at where famous competitors would show up. The fizzle of excitement kept him awake even more than the coffee did. Excitement yes, and fear. Finally, they would know. _He_ would know. All the small tournaments in the world had done nothing to show him where he belonged in the world. He needed something _bigger_.

To know if he was any good without Yugi.

Finally, it was down to two Grand Prix locations. The Tokyo International, and the Duel of the Americas. Yugi favored Tokyo; Mai America.

“So I’ll apply to both,” Yami said. "We can decide then, based on the official guests.”

Yugi covered a yawn. “Wise, my young cousin. Very wise.” He checked his watch. “I can drop off the forms on my way home. I’ve got a call with Anzu in an hour and a half.”

“Ah, young love. Yami, you really don't have any tea?” Mai asked, rummaging through Yami’s cupboards.

“Sorry, Mai, I’m straight out.”

“You seem to be straight out of everything,” she said, peering into his fridge. “Do they not teach basic cooking skills at Egyptian pharaoh school?”

“No, it’s the food gathering classes I skipped.”

Mai sighed. “Well, I suppose I’ll manage to survive for another hour or so.” She sat back down to pack up the forms. “You know, I just realized. Duel of the Americas and Hong Kong Cup?”

Yami made an inquisitive noise.

“They’re both KaibaCorp tournaments.”

And suddenly, all the anxiety Yami had been holding at bay came crashing back. He felt lightheaded, short of breath, even as his breathing remained steady, his face remained calm - _stay calm -_ he instructed himself - _stay calm._

“You’re kidding!” Yugi sat bolt upright. “I should get in touch with him. He’d probably know if the Cup or the Duel is a safer bet this year.”

Mai nodded. “Or you could do it, Yami. I bet he’d want to know you’re back in the major leagues.”

"Plus Kaiba's been itching for a new world champion ever since Miyachi took the crown; you should hear him talk about the lack of talent in Elite - " Yugi continued, half-tripping over Mai. 

“Kaiba and I aren’t particularly close - ”

“What? You two practically spent the entire wedding together!”

“And I wouldn’t want to impose.” Yami continued in quelling tones.

Mai rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t be imposing. Kaiba’s very hands-on during tournaments.” At that turn of phrase, a particularly vivid image popped into Yami’s mind. _Calm down_. “Have you never been to a KaibaCorp tournament?”

“Not since the KC Grand Prix. I guess KaibaCorp doesn’t really sponsor lower level tournaments.”

_Or you just deliberately ignore to KaibaCorp tournament invitations._

He couldn’t resist asking. “How are the KaibaCorp tournaments?”

“Oh, they’re a well-oiled machine. The ones sponsored by Schroeder and Industrial Illusions are always a mess in comparison.” Mai wrapped a scarf around her neck. “The bureaucracy is invisible; problems disappear before you even notice they exist. KC actually enforces the code of conduct and will ban people when they’re in breach - ”

“That’s how Bandit Keith got kicked out of Duel of the Americas two years ago,” Yugi added.

“I’ve even heard from friends that the open tournament days aren’t bad at all,” Mai said.

Yugi beamed. “I’m so glad! That was part of my consultation gig with KaibaCorp. Took us months to hammer out a model that didn’t treat people feel like cattle.”

He grabbed his coat from Yami’s outstretched arms.

Mai glanced towards Yami’s fridge. “You okay for food today? You want to come down with us and stop at the grocery? There’s one on the way to the subway.”

Yami hesitated. There really was nothing in his fridge, and walking out with Yugi and Mai was better than walking alone.

But the mention of Kaiba had left him drained, like he’d been burned through with an unexpected fever. Yami couldn’t fathom another half hour of conversation.

“Thanks for the offer, but I was planning to go later tonight,” he said. “I’ll be okay till then.”

Mai shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Yugi slid between them to claim his hug. “I’ll text you later, okay, partner?”

“Thank you for the coffee, my friend,” Yami replied. “Say hi to Anzu for me.” He squeezed Yugi hard. Even after five years apart, goodbyes were tough. They were a recognition that Yugi was leaving, that Yugi could leave, that they could separate. It was painful, and it was a tremendous relief all at once. And the relief was its own kind of pain. Guilt that that he would ever want to separate from Yugi, his partner, his soul mate.

Yami leaned over to give Mai a hug as Yugi slid out the door. “Thanks for everything, Mai.”

She slapped his back. “Thank me when you’ve won a World Championship.” Grabbed his shoulders, looked at him squarely. “Because you’re going to.”

“No pressure.”

“No, but I’m serious. If not this year, then next. Or the one after that.”  

Yami quieted. “Okay.”

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

She was halfway out the door when she turned.

“You know, it’s funny about you and Kaiba. That you said you weren’t close. You did spend a lot of time with him at the wedding. I mean, someone even told me they saw you two leaving a kitchen closet together." 

Yami’s mouth went dry. “Huh.”

“But people were pretty drunk at that party, so..." 

“People were pretty drunk at that wedding.” Yami confirmed. “But I don’t think I was drunk enough to forget raiding the pantry with Kaiba.”

“Hmm.” Mai shrugged. “I guess it was just a mistake.”

“Guess so.”

“It was nice though. Seeing you two get along.”

Yami didn’t trust himself to reply, so he just nodded.

“I’ll see you soon?”

“See you soon, Mai.”

Only when the door was closed did Yami allow the thoughts he was holding back to come crashing back in.

If he competed the Grand Prix circuit, he would see Kaiba again. There was no doubt.

And after the wedding - after what happened at the wedding -

Yami leaned his head against the door. Images, suppressed all morning, leapt unbidden to his mind. Hands, touching. The feeling of Seto’s lips against his. Bodies pressed together. The taste of him. The curve of his back as it met - 

 _Stop_.

He forced himself to breathe. Forced himself to leave the door, to do the dishes. To close the shutters in every room.

And then he lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Pressed both hands on his forehead, feeling the throbbing beat of what felt like the beginning of a wretched migraine.

Tried not to think.

Which worked about as well as one would expect.

* * *

When Yami finally stirred, it was dark out.

He pulled his phone off of his nightstand. Swiped through to the texts.

It took him a minute to find Kaiba’s. There were only two, buried beneath weeks of texts from Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura and Mai.

The first came two days after the wedding.

_It was good to see you. We should talk soon. Call me?_

The next one, three days later.

_I’d like to talk to you. Could you call me?_

And in response, nothing from Yami.

Then, two missed calls from Kaiba, four days after those last texts.

Finally, the day of the calls, one final text:   
  
_Please._

And then nothing.

 _Please_.

Gods.

He felt his throat closing up. His fingers hovered over the call button. Just press it. Just press it, and call him. Call him, and tell him -

Tell him what?

Explain to him what?

What could you possibly tell him, Yami, that would satisfy why you haven’t answered him for over two months?

_Please._

He couldn’t just show up at the tournaments without talking to Kaiba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But what happened at the wedding, you might ask?  
> Don't worry. I will be updating chapters with the events of the wedding AND the continuation of the Present Day Fallout. All will be revealed in the fullness of time - we're just going to jump back and forth between What Happens in Vegas and... Consequences. 
> 
> Next update will either come in 2 weeks (12/15), or 3 weeks (12/22), depending on how fast I write. You should get the next two chapters relatively fast (by my pace) because they're either all or mostly written. And the next chapter will fill in some... wedding stuff.
> 
> \--  
> Thank you for all your comments - they keep me going in the descending winter! 
> 
> The Grand Prix design is inspired from figure skating's Grand Prix structure/ gymnastics World Championships competitions. But with Duel Monsters instead of Double Doubles.


	7. The Tell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Tell is an interpretation of a physical action or betting pattern that reveals how strong or weak a player’s hand is. The best players do not provide many tells themselves, and have an ability to detect tells of their opponents in order to determine how to play a hand. 
> 
> ***  
> It's up a week earlier than I planned! I realized that my younger brother would be visiting when I planned to post the chapter, and I, er, didn't want to be doing edits of smut during family visits. Hopefully everyone forgives me for posting an early chapter! 
> 
> Oh also there's definitely sex in this chapter, just FYI.

_Vegas, the night before the wedding._

The desert was warm, sand still gleaming gold despite the black of the night. There was no sound; it was like the night had swallowed everything that could move. A comforting kind of nihilism.  

A palace, on the horizon, silver steps rising to meet him. A dark doorway, impossible to see within.

A promise, deep inside the dark.

***

Yami woke up.

For a few disorienting seconds, he had no idea where he was. Nausea hit, then receded. Yami took a few deep breaths. The hotel room. He was in the hotel room. He could feel the sheets, the comforter, the pillow. Hotel. Vegas. Not the desert.

He could feel his heart slowing. Better.

At least he hadn’t been sick this time. Small consolations.

Especially since he was still nestled in Kaiba’s embrace.

His thoughts paused. Kaiba’s embrace.

Kaiba.

Not a fantasy after all. Not a dream, or a hallucination. He’d had sex with Kaiba last night - or sooner. A few hours ago. It was dark in the room, no light from the sky. It wasn’t even close to dawn.

“Did I wake you up?” Kaiba’s voice was quiet, but Yami still half-jumped in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I didn’t even realize you were awake.” Yami shifted so he could see Kaiba’s face. “Did _I_ wake you?

“Not at all,” Kaiba said. He glanced outside. “I woke up when it started raining.”

Now that Kaiba mentioned it, Yami could hear the rhythmic sound of rain on the windows. “Let’s hope it clears up for the wedding.”  
“They’re not getting married outside, are they?”

Yami shook his head. “They picked a church somewhere.” He should really remember where, as the best man. At the moment, the details were difficult to remember with Kaiba’s body pressed against his. He lay his face back down against Kaiba’s chest, his body relaxing fractionally when Kaiba readjusted his grip to pull him in closer. Usually, Yami didn’t act like this after sex - but Kaiba felt intoxicating. It was impossible not to push further against him, impossible not to stroke his skin or wrap his arms around Kaiba’s waist.

Was there a polite way to ask Kaiba if sex was ever going to be on the table again?

“So, about the sex…”

Great. Excellent opening. Not awkward at all.

Above him, Kaiba laughed. “I can’t wait to see where this is going.”

Yami pushed up onto his elbow. “You’re not going to help me here at all?”

“Oh, no. This is fascinating,” Kaiba said - and Yami wanted to kiss the smirk off of his face. “The great Yami, trying to get through a post-coital conversation.”

“Kaiba - ” Yami said, warning in his voice. Kaiba’s smirk deepened.

“Yes?”

Ah. Well. Yami hadn’t come up with a followup to that one yet. He took a breath, and another one, to survey possible retorts. Except he didn’t want retorts. He wanted to know if Kaiba would ever let him fuck him again.

“You’re not like this with everyone you sleep with, are you?” Kaiba was amused. “Trying to threaten them into submission with your voice? Incapable of getting through a full sentence?”

“I’m not - ” and then Yami shut up, because he absolutely was.  
  
“Well.” Kaiba started to ease out from under Yami. Yami felt a spike of fear - surely Kaiba wasn’t going to leave now - not in the middle of the night -  “While you figure it out, I’m going to fix the air conditioning. You’re still freezing.”

“Don’t bother. It’s a hotel thermostat; you can only adjust it by two degrees. And I’m not that cold.”

Kaiba was already halfway across the room. “There isn’t a computer system anywhere on earth that I can’t break into.”

Yami couldn’t suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Even when he was being solicitous, Kaiba had to get a point in. Kaiba leaned over the thermostat, pressed two buttons simultaneously, then a third one. The A.C. ground to a halt. “Also, anyone can hack a hotel thermostat,” Kaiba added. “The instructions are on reddit.”

He turned around, favoring Yami with one of his rare genuine smiles. Yami’s breath caught.

Kaiba was always an arresting sight. Kaiba naked was an even more arresting sight. Kaiba naked and marked with Yami’s bruises was - magnificent.

“Come here.” Yami’s voice was very quiet.

Kaiba cocked an eyebrow, but walked over. Yami reached out to touch a bruise under Kaiba’s collarbone, a wicked red bite mark that was purpling around the edges, then hesitated, hand an inch from Kaiba’s skin. “Can I?”

Kaiba’s exhale was sharp. “Please.”

And his skin was so soft when Yami’s fingers brushed against the mark, the way his breath caught when Yami traced the edges so quiet. Yami slide his hands up Kaiba’s sides, touching each mark individually. Some were darker than others, already transforming into bruises, while others still looked fresh, like the bite marks they were, and Yami’s lust grew at thinking of how they’d appeared on Kaiba’s skin. “I still can’t believe you let me do this.”

“I can’t believe you did it.”

Kaiba gasped as Yami leaned in to lick the mark under his nipple. He could taste the salt of Kaiba’s skin, the sharpness of iron coming stronger as he hit the edge of the bruise - the blood closer to the surface of the skin. “You can’t?” Yami whispered against Kaiba’s skin.

“I didn’t expect you’d like to mark your partners,” Kaiba said.

Yami moved on to the next bruise, pressing down as he licked. Kaiba clutched at the back of Yami’s head, threading his fingers in Yami’s hair. “I don’t, usually. But you - ” Yami traced the path of a scar from one bruise to the next. “I wanted to do it for you.”

The tiny noises Yami compelled from Kaiba when he hit the right spot were addictive. Kaiba was so quiet; Yami had to gauge his success on the smallest of gasps, a slight tremble in Kaiba’s grip, a tensing in his chest.

“You like knowing that I’ll have these all day tomorrow? That you’re the only one who will know what bruises I’m carrying?”

Yami bit back a moan. “Yes.”

“That every time I move, I’ll be reminded of what you did to me?”

“Gods, _yes_.”

“See, that’s the surprise,” Kaiba said, voice ragged. “I thought you’d be too pure for it.”

Yami laughed. “Well, I guess you know how little true that is now.”

He reached a hand up to press gently against the base of Kaiba’s neck, so he could feel the speed of Kaiba’s pulse as he continued to lick the marks.

At that, Kaiba drew in a hard breath and moved Yami’s hand up to cover his neck.

Yami gasped. “You - fuck. Kaiba.” He pushed down slightly on Kaiba’s neck. “Is this what you like?”

For an answer, Kaiba kissed him, _finally_ . It was soft, and gentle, and devastating in the heat of Kaiba’s barely controlled desire. Yami groaned, low in his throat. Kaiba’s hands pulled at Yami’s hair at the sound, and Yami leaned into the slight pain, _wanting_. Then Kaiba turned his body, falling down towards onto bed, dragging Yami with him.

Yami’s hand was still, somehow, around Kaiba’s neck.

“I don’t think I ever imagined a scenario where you would willingly put me in charge,” Yami said.

Kaiba’s smile was a knife in the dark, eyes gleaming in triumph. “Do you really think you’re in control, Yami?”

 _Not at all._  Yami leaned forward to catch Kaiba in a kiss, then stopped, noticing something on Kaiba’s chest.

“Did I - ” Yami touched the scar. It cut from collarbone to ribcage, a wicked length. “I didn’t do this earlier, did I?”

Suddenly, Yami realized how white the scar was. It was old. Too old. It couldn’t have been from this evening, or even this year. He shouldn’t have asked the question.

Kaiba looked down. “No.”

“I shouldn’t have - ”

“That was my cat.”

Yami choked, apology half out. “Sorry, what?”

“Cat.”

In a night of surprises, this was might the biggest. “You have a cat?”

“Not anymore.” Kaiba frowned, as though trying to remember. “She was my childhood cat. I think her name was Yogen.”

“Not a particularly friendly cat, then.”

“No, she was,” Kaiba half-smiled. “I must have been bothering her.”

It was nearly impossible for Yami to picture Kaiba as a child. Particularly before Gozaburo. For Yami, it was as if Kaiba’s life began at Gozaburo’s doorstep - a gifted child, an orphan, an older brother. But there had been a time before.

Although it wasn’t so hard to imagine Kaiba setting off a cat. 

Yami’s hand trailed down to another scar, a wider one that went straight down his sternum, neatly bisected his chest.

“That one we shouldn’t talk about.”

Yami pulled his hand back. “I’m sorry.”

Kaiba shifted to pull Yami back down into his arms. His eyes were hooded. “You don’t have to apologize. We’re just not talking about it.”

 _Right_. Okay. No apology. But it was very hard not to keep apologizing. Particularly when he could feel the tension in Kaiba’s body, a tightness almost thrumming in his muscles. He’d been smiling only moments before.  

If he couldn’t ask, Yami could speak. “See this one?” He raised his hand so Kaiba could see it, a still-pink gouge on the side of his right hand. “It’s my first scar. New body and all.”

Kaiba touched the top of the scar, near Yami's fingers. “What happened?”

“Did you know that tin cans are quite sharp after you cut them? Because I didn’t.”  

Kaiba started laughing.

“It’s not funny. I stuck my hand straight down onto the can, and then I got to find out what stitches are. Highly amusing, this modern world of yours. How was I to know?”

“A genuine education.” Kaiba’s smile was back. Yami grinned. He could feel his chest warming as Kaiba interlaced their hands. “Did you discover what a tetanus show was that day as well?”

“You're hilarious.” Yami paused. “What’s a tetanus shot?”

Kaiba looked up at him, startled. “You’re joking.”

“I’m really not. What’s tetanus?”

“When you got stitches, did the doctor give you a - ” Kaiba hesitated. “An injection of some kind? With a needle?”

Yami shook his head. “I would remember. This is important?”

“Puncture wounds and rusted metals can cause a disease called tetanus.” Kaiba traced the side of Yami’s hand, a slight crease between his eyebrows.“There’s a vaccine they can give you to prevent it. But the doctors might not have thought of it because you’re so much older than the vaccination period. Cretins. When did you cut yourself?”

“A year ago?”

A sigh.“You’re fine.” He could hear a more relaxed note in Kaiba’s voice. “Remind me to talk to Yugi, though . How two such smart people can be so foolish about the basics of life is beyond my comprehension. You’re going to end up catching measles.”

“I’m not even going to ask what measles are.”

That rich laugh from Kaiba, a sound that wasn’t quite a taunt but still held the taunt’s bite. Kaiba’s hand settled down to stroke through Yami’s hair, long fingers trailing lazily through the strands. In the dark of the night, Yami shivered. This moment felt more intimate than sex, and more dangerous.

To fuck was one thing. To lower his guard - and to see Kaiba lower his guard - during sex made sense. But to hold each other afterwards, bodies touching, embracing, without the excuse of sex to justify their vulnerability? To have Kaiba holding him was somehow more intimate, more exhilarating, than even sex. They were nowhere near fucking, and yet, Yami knew his cheeks were hot.

“You know, you’re the first person I’ve slept with who has known my real last name.”

Yami’s arms tightened around Kaiba. Before he could think, he was speaking back - “You’re the first person I’ve slept with who knows I don’t have really have one.”

There was a long pause before Kaiba spoke again. “It suits you. Yami.”

Gods, did Kaiba have any idea how heady his approval felt? And Yami was mad that he felt - this intoxication - at Kaiba’s words, because it shouldn’t be about Kaiba’s approval. About anyone’s. “It’s still not mine.”

Kaiba snorted. “If you mean it’s not what you were born with, you’re absolutely right. And you’re also being obtuse. I wasn’t born to my last name either. And it came to me as much by force as by my own choice. But to deny my name would be to deny responsibility for what I’ve become.”  A lull. “Besides, it does suit you.”

“It was - ”

“Just take the compliment, Yami.”

“Thank you.”

Yami knew well the poisoned gifts that could come from utter desolation. His life in the present at the expense of his memories and his life at the pharoah: an exchange that seemed to burn down everything it touch. He often assumed he was the only person he knew with that particular experience. But Kaiba - Kaiba too, had walked through that fire. And he’d somehow made the ashes grow. He raised his brother, pulled Kaibacorp away from the contamination of war, ended the reign of a tyrant. When Yami looked at the devastation of his life and saw poison, Kaiba looked at devastation and saw the gift.

Yami couldn’t keep thinking about it.

“So when you pick men up, you use a fake last name?”

Kaiba shrugged. “If they ask for a last name, I make one up. But most don’t ask.”

“And you’ve never been recognized?”

“Concerned, Yami?” Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “People see what they expect to see. I learned that lesson from you and Yugi. How many years did you two get away with body-switching with no one the wiser?” Yami felt a chill. “And no one expects to meet Seto Kaiba, the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation at a gay bar. They buy a computer science student a drink and that’s the end of the story.”

Yami couldn’t help but laugh. “You don’t offer to buy them the drinks? Kaiba! You're on that list of the ten richest men in Japan!”

“Doesn’t fit the character. You think university students have money to throw around?” There was a definite smirk in Kaiba’s voice. “Besides, they’re the ones offering.”

Yami knew an invitation to flirt when he heard one. Still, it nagged at him, the bait he’d set himself, and Yami had to keep pushing. “You really don’t worry about being recognized, or being found out by the media - at all.”

“No.”

Yami pushed himself up on his elbow so he could examine Kaiba more closely. The younger man looked calm, his body still. No sign of nerves, no sign of a lie. No fear.

Gods - just thinking of being outed started Yami’s pulse racing. And that was when Yami thought of exposing his sexuality to Yugi, and Yugi alone. Kaiba was playing to millions. “Why?”

Kaiba’s expression didn’t change. “Why would I worry about it? If they find out who I’m fucking, they’ll find out. My publicist has standing orders not to deny it, and that’s it. Who cares?”

“You know what the dueling community is like.”

Something shifted in Kaiba’s eyes. “Yes. I know what the dueling community is like.” His voice was hard. “I know much better than you what the dueling community is like, since I supply the majority of their technology and I’ve run some hundred-odd tournaments. Please don’t insult me by implying that I’m somehow unaware of what a group of testosterone-obsessed, misogynist homophobes they are.” Yami closed his mouth. “Although according to your experiences, there’s a not-insignificant contingent that’s happily fucking men at tournaments, so it should be fascinating to see if the reactions split when word does get out.”

“Kaiba - ”

“Yami. You’ve known me for seven years. In which of these seven years did I manage to give you the impression that I would ever care what these people think of me?”

Yami shook his head. Point to Kaiba. “None of them.”

Kaiba brushed a tendril of hair out of Yami’s face. His eyes were unreadable. “But did it change what you thought of me, Yami? Do you care who I sleep with?”

Yami knew there was a test here, although he wasn’t sure in which direction. “Yes.” He swallowed. “It did change what I thought of you. Because when I knew you fucked men, I wanted you to fuck me.”

“Well, there you go,”

“You’re so arrogant.” Yami pulled Kaiba up to meet his lips, kissing his mouth open until he could hear Kaiba moan against him. Kaiba’s hands came up to circle Yami’s back, pulling him closer, and just as Yami started contemplating how he could ask for me, Kaiba flipped him over. Yami gasped. The next instant, his back was against the bed, Kaiba’s weight pressing him hard into the mattress, the speed at which Kaiba had pinned him making Yami’s cock swell so hard it was painful.

Kaiba lifted his head from Yami’s lips. “So,” he said, and his tone was conversational, even though his forearms were keeping Yami in place. “Since you brought it up. Are we going to talk about the fact that you asked me to fuck you earlier?”

“Oh, gods.” Yami swallowed. “I was hoping we could just let that go. Pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Yes. Because historically, I’ve been so good at letting things go, and pretending they didn’t happen.”

“But this time I can, if you need me to,” Kaiba added casually, like it was nothing. “Let it go.”

Some of the tightness loosened in Yami’s chest. “No, I think - I can talk about it.”

Yami stared at the ceiling. It was easier to talk with Kaiba holding him - especially since he didn’t have to look in his eyes.  The opposite of their duels, which were all staring, no touching. Each duel seemed about establishing a different kind of distance, even as they broke into new kinds of intimacy. But the touch - felt reassuring, somehow. A weight that broke through the dark.

“I’m surprised you didn’t keep going when I hesitated,” Yami confessed, eyes still on the ceiling. “I expected you to. It never bothered you, pushing me over the edge when we were dueling.”

He could hear the rain getting heavier, cutting through the silence.

“Sex is different from dueling.”

Startled, Yami turned to meet Kaiba’s eyes.

Kaiba traced a pattern on Yami’s shoulder. “When we push each other in duels, it’s because we want to win. But sex - good sex - is about creating something together, rather than winning and losing.” His hand stilled. “Or it should be.”

Yami felt himself getting warm. “Oh.”

“Though sometimes,” and Kaiba’s voice changed, dropping into the lowest register, the one Yami had always found rich with implications - never more so than tonight - “Sex _can_ be about winning and losing. And that also has its source of pleasure.”

Yami shivered, and he couldn’t tell if it was from fear or desire. He caught Kaiba’s hand. “I think - I think that’s what I’m scared of.” Oh, he needed to look at the ceiling again. “The loss of control. When you’re the one fucked. Maybe it’s that I didn’t have my own body for so long, and I fear the loss - giving someone else the reins feels like a kind of annihilation that terrifies me. Or maybe it’s just that getting fucked is always frightening - ”  

“It is frightening,” Kaiba said when Yami paused. “The loss.

Yami shifted again so he could see Kaiba's face. “So why would you - ” and he couldn’t go further. Of all possible people, he wanted to add, but didn’t. Of all possible people, Kaiba had never struck him as one who would willingly relinquish control.

“Sometimes,” Kaiba said. “It can be good to lose control.”

The way he said it made Yami want to drop the conversation and immediately see how much control he could make Kaiba lose. Slow the breathing. In and out. Don’t think about it. Gods - this wasn’t the first time he’d had sex. Kaiba wasn’t the first handsome man he’d ever seen. He wasn’t a hormonal teenager.

“I never expected to hear _you_ say that.”

“Like I said, sex isn’t dueling.” Kaiba shrugged. “Although it’s not that surprising, if you think about it.”

Yami made an inquiring sound.

“I’ve always like to see how much I can take.”

_Fuck._

Yami was in such trouble.

The corner of Kaiba’s lip quirked, as though he knew what Yami was thinking. “But you still haven’t answered my question.”

“No. I’ve been avoiding that one. I wondered if you’d noticed.”

“I had.” Fingers trailing down to Yami’s neck, drawing goosebumps in their wake. “You’re not as subtle as you think you are. So. Why did you ask me to fuck you?”

Yami noted the slight pressure on ‘me’ in Kaiba’s question. Well, besides the fact that he’d wanted Kaiba to push him against a wall since he’d gotten a body - an answer which would surely open up another can of worms - “I trust you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Yami didn’t have time to bite back his laughter. He could hear Kaiba chuckling next to him. “That didn’t work for you, huh?”

“Yami, you just told me you thought I’d keep going when I saw you hesitate during sex. I’m sure that speaks to something, but trust isn’t it.” Kaiba didn’t seem particularly offended, but he didn’t seem pleased either.

“I do trust you, though.”

He raised a hand to Kaiba’s lips before Kaiba could say anything. ‘But it’s not just that I trust you to stop. I trust you to not stop.”

A frown on Kaiba’s face deepened. Yami considered his next words carefully. “What you said earlier, about dueling. That we only pushed each other to win. That wasn’t true for me. I wanted you to push me. You knew how far I could go more than I did. Much more than I did. And when you made me follow you, when I went as far as you - it was ecstasy.”

Kaiba’s eyes - he could feel the pull of Kaiba’s eyes on him; they seemed to draw the words out of him, like blood from a wound, like a confession. It was too late to stop now.

“And I want you to push me here too. Because you know how much I can take.”

The air itself weighed on him. He wished Kaiba would say something. There was nothing else Yami could possibly say, except ask. And he couldn’t possibly ask.

“So. It occurs to me that this is less of an explanation than a proposition.”

“Wait - ”

“You didn’t so much explain why you asked me to fuck you, as you’re asking me to fuck you. Again.”

“That - ” Yami choked. “I’m not - ”

“Is that what you want?”

“What?”

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

The jolt went through Yami’s entire body. “Yes.”

A moment to realize that Kaiba was breathing just as fast as he was. Yami wrapped himself further towards Kaiba’s embrace. “Kaiba. Is there any chance of that happening?”

“It could be arranged.”

“You - ”

“On my terms.”  

Yami bit back a moan.

“I’m not penetrating you tonight,” Kaiba said, and Yami felt his entire body release at this voice he’d never heard Kaiba before. A tone that seemed to touch the deepest part of him, holding him down. “I’m taking you slowly. We’ll do this step by step, so you’re comfortable. So you enjoy it.” Kaiba shifted so his leg was pressed against Yami’s cock. Yami cried out at the sensation.

“What are - ” Yami could barely talk at this point. It would have been embarrassing if he hadn’t been trying to push up into Kaiba, desperately seeking more friction. Gods - Kaiba barely needed to touch him at this point. “What are the steps?”

“Oh, I don’t know” - how in the world was Kaiba speaking so casually? - “Am I right in assuming that penetration isn’t the only thing you haven’t done? That anything preparatory would also be new?”

Breathe. Try not to come when Kaiba talks about preparation. That would be bad. “You would be right.”

“Then I think, to start, I should fuck you open with my mouth. And later I should use my fingers. I think you could come from just my fingers, don’t you?”

“God, Kaiba - ”

“And I should get you used to having sex while under my control, so the first time that happens isn’t when I’m pounding your ass - ”

Yami moaned at that and pulled Kaiba in for a long, searing kiss. He wrapped his legs around Kaiba’s waist, and Kaiba shifted his weight and then Yami was pinned against the bed again, his sounds of pleasure disappearing into the kiss. Yami was writhing up into him, thrusting up, and Kaiba’s mouth was everywhere, Yami’s neck, his chest, his arms, his _wrists_ -

Kaiba broke the kiss much too early. “And then, only then,” said Kaiba. “Then I’ll fuck you. And we’ll find out exactly how much you can take.”

The thrill Yami felt at those words - a feeling beyond excitement, beyond fear, beyond even lust - a thrill of recognition, that Kaiba had exposed a part of Yami he couldn’t even admit existed, and yet Kaiba was saying it anyway, stripping Yami’s defenses to nothing

“One condition,” Yami managed to gasp.

Kaiba made a questioning noise.

“We have to start now. Please. I can’t - ”

“You can’t what, Yami?

He loved the sound of his name on Kaiba’s lips. There were days his new name felt foreign, a hotel room he’d never woken up in before. But when Kaiba said it, it belonged to him utterly.

“Please don’t make me wait.”

The smirk was back. “You’ve come twice already and you want more? You’re insatiable.”

“You’re the one pinning me to a bed and listing ways to fuck me.”

“And you thought I would just give you a speech and leave you with nothing, did you?” Kaiba sat up, straddling Yami’s hips. It was warmer in the room now, without the forced cold of the air conditioning. “You know how I feel about speeches that go nowhere, Yami. No.” His eyes narrowed. “I think it’s time to find out how much control you can give up. At least for tonight.”

It was phrased as a command, but Yami could hear the question behind it. Could feel too, the wave of heat in his body, its own answer.

“If you want.”

A slow smile on Kaiba’s face. “Only what _I_ want? Generous.”

“I - ”

“Not yet.” Kaiba’s hand was suddenly on Yami’s chest, discomfitingly close to his neck. “Try to get up.”

“What?”

“Indulge me, Yami. Try to get up.”

Yami pushed up with his elbows, and got about half an inch above the mattress before the pressure from Kaiba was too much. Kaiba’s body weight was pressing in all the right places. With a flash of excitement, Yami realized he couldn’t move.

“I can’t.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“... not yet.”

His heartbeat was increasing. His heartbeat was increasing so fast. Electricity seemed to descend through Yami’s spine, and he couldn’t have moved even if he wanted to.

Kaiba’s smile grew. He took Yami’s arms in his free hand, pining them just above Yami’s head.

Gods.

“What about this?”

“That’s - that’s fine.”

But his heart was beating faster and faster and the fear was fueling his lust, and the lust was fueling the exhilaration and the exhilaration felt like pure pleasure - and Kaiba’s wolfish grin told Yami he could see through every word.

“Fine? Because if it’s just fine, I should stop - ”

“No - ” Yami said, much too fast. “No. Don’t stop.”

And he hated the satisfied sound out of Kaiba, hated it and loved it, almost as much as he loved Kaiba leaning down for a kiss, feeling plundered and vulnerable and so - _desired_.

Yami whimpered as Kaiba straightened, breaking the kiss.

“Here are the ground rules,” Kaiba said. He let go of Yami’s wrists, but kept pressure on his chest. “I’m not going to do anything physical to you that we haven’t already done. If at any point, you want me to stop, you say ‘stop.’ Understand?”

He waited for Yami to nod. “Stop.”

“Precisely. If you want me to slow down, same thing - ‘slow down.’ But otherwise, I set the pace. I set the rules. I’m in control. And I decide everything. If you aren’t interested - ”

“I’m interested.”

“Tell me, Yami.”

“Tell you - ”

“Who has control?”

Yami swallowed. For all he wanted this, for all his body hungered for it, the words caught in his throat. Words he’d never said to anyone, not in the bedroom, or out of it. Not on the dueling fields, or to his friends or even in his past. Words that meant surrender.

But Kaiba’s eyes were blazing, holding Yami’s gaze. Yami would have done anything for him at that moment.

“You’re in control.”

“More.”

More? What more was there? But suddenly Yami knew, remembering what he’d said to Kaiba earlier - _if that’s what you want_.

“I want you to be in control.”

“Good.” Kaiba stroked the side of Yami’s face; Yami unconsciously leaned into the touch, told himself he wasn’t leaning into the compliment. “Very good.”

Kaiba let go of Yami’s chest and sat up to grab the lube and condoms from the side table. “Maybe you were right to bring the whole box after all.”

The tearing of a foil packet; Kaiba’s hands sliding the condom down Yami’s cock with practiced ease. Competence kink, check.

“You’re coming around,” Yami gasped.

“Well, I certainly plan on someone coming.”

“That’s not even fun - ah - ” Yami bit off the sentence as he realized what Kaiba was about to do.

Kaiba slid down Yami’s cock in a single stroke.

Yami cried out, his mind going white.

He’d never been so deep in another person before. Before he could think, his hands were on Kaiba’s hips; he was pushing up into him, rocking up to thrust -

“No.” Kaiba grabbed his wrists and pinned them back. “Remember. My pace.”

Why did hearing that “no” feel so good, like it touched something deep inside him? “I need - ”

“I know what you need,” Kaiba cut him off. “Trust me.”

A breath, then Yami nodded.

Kaiba resettled his grip so he was pinning Yami down by his biceps instead of his wrists. Yami felt more of Kaiba’s weight; it radiated through his chest and shoulders, an almost painful amount of pressure, one that made him want to thrash against it, fight and win. But he’d said he wouldn’t. He’d said he wanted this.

And he did want this.

“Don’t try to move from this position,” Kaiba warned. “It will hurt.”

Fuck.

“Although,” Kaiba added. “Knowing you, that’s precisely what you’ll like about it.”

When Kaiba started to ride him, the intensity of the sensation caught Yami by surprise. He cried out again, and a few moments later was embarrassed because he’d been far louder than before - then promptly forgot to be embarrassed as another barrage of feelings hit. Kaiba was right - the knowledge that it would hurt to escape made everything sharper, sweeter, more powerful, and Kaiba’s eyes on him as he slid up and down his cock drew him even further -

A glance down their bodies and he realized how deep Kaiba was going, how deep his cock was buried inside Kaiba on every downstroke, and he could feel his climax bearing down on him, vicious and intoxicating -  

Kaiba stopped.

“Not yet.”

“God _damn it_ , Kaiba - ”

“You come when I say, or not at all.”

“Please - ”

Kaiba bent down to kiss Yami’s jaw, grip still implacable on his arms. “You’ll get what you want, Yami. Everything you want. On my terms.” Another kiss, so soft it sent tingles down Yami’s spine. “But it is nice to hear you beg.”

“You’re a sadist.”

“Your powers of observation are unmatched.” Kaiba turned his head to catch Yami’s mouth in a kiss that left them both breathless. “And you like it.”

Oh, fuck. “You can’t fuck me this way and expect me to be patient.”

Kaiba slid back up Yami’s cock. “Oh, I knew you were going to be a challenge.”

Then why - Yami wanted to ask, but Kaiba was fucking him again, and it was all he could do to process the mountain of sensations hitting his body.

Over and over, Kaiba brought him to the brink, over and over he slowed down or stopped just before Yami’s orgasm, ruthlessly keeping from climax until Yami keened in frustration. He was clenching Kaiba’s arms now, holding onto him like he was downing. And now Kaiba was gasping, and Yami realized his nails were digging into Kaiba’s biceps and it had to hurt, but Kaiba wasn’t telling him to stop and he needed to hold onto something, and the small noises Kaiba was making sounded so good -

Kaiba's refusal to let him come felt so wrong and yet so intoxicating, and Yami couldn’t separate out any of his emotions from the intensity of the sensations.

The final time Kaiba brought him right to the edge, Yami couldn’t take it anymore. When Kaiba stopped, he shoved up with all of his strength, intending to grab Kaiba, flip him over and pound him until they both came -

Kaiba slammed him back into the mattress like it was nothing.

Yami blinked up, stunned. Somehow, a part of his brain hadn’t believed he was trapped, that Kaiba could stop him if he really _tried_ to escape.

He wasn’t in control. At all.

And he liked it so much it was unbearable.

A moment later his shoulders screamed in pain.

“The only way I stop is if you use the word.” Kaiba said. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” He’d answered too quickly, Yami realized. It looked like he was refusing to back down again.

“Do it again. It feels good when you push me back down. Do it again.”

A sharp inhale from Kaiba. Relief, perhaps, in his eyes. “Then fight me.”

Yami pressed up again, only to feel the swoop of his body floating through air and the mattress burn against his back once more. A bitter taste hit the back of his throat, right after the flood of desire. Kaiba’s smile was vicious. “I told you you would get everything you wanted.”

His entire body caught fire at the words.

Kaiba pushed down harder on Yami’s biceps now, and Yami could feel the dull ache of pain in his shoulders as Kaiba rode him - slow, still, but so good, achingly good, and knowing that there was no escape, that he really had no control, made the ache so much deeper. Yami wanted to fight, wanted to be pushed back down, but he could barely move.

The pleasure rose, then plateaued, then rose again. Yami recognized the state as the one he entered moments before climax, and expected Kaiba to stop - or to come - but neither happened. Kaiba slid up and down his cock, the rhythm as slow as before, and the pleasure kept rising to the point where it felt almost like pain, and Yami considered saying “stop” just because it was too much - he couldn’t - the sensations were too much for any body to bear.

And then another downstroke from Kaiba, and he was lost.

He could feel Kaiba’s eyes on him until his consciousness edged away.

***

He came out of it to the touch of fingers carding his hair. The room smelled of sex. A warm body by his side, holding him.

“How long,” Yami whispered, then cleared his throat. “How long was I out?” Kaiba’s hand stilled, then kept stroking through his hair.

“Less than a minute.” His voice was a calming rumble next to Yami’s head, and Yami realized Kaiba was pressed up next to him instead of straddling him. “You need some water?”

“No,” Yami croaked. He blushed.

A chuckle from above him. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. I’ll be right back.” Kaiba slid away.

Yami hissed as he sat up. His shoulders felt like one tight bruise; his throat was raw. How loud had he been? And the rest of his body was exhausted - but a good kind of exhausted, as though he’d been drawn through a shower of bright light and it had burned through all the darkness weighing him down. He still felt the aftershock of orgasm weaving its song through his limbs.

Kaiba returned to sit next to him. His eyes were watchful as Yami took a few sips of the water.

“Did you pass out? At the end?”

Yami thought his blush must extend all the way to the roots of his hair at this point. “No. I uh - I should have warned you. When it’s really intense, sometimes I can - drift for a while, after orgasm.” And it hadn’t happened in years, he kept himself from adding.

He swallowed more water to hide his embarrassment.

“So you’re okay?”

“Very okay.”

The watchful look left Kaiba’s eyes. He smiled very slowly, looking down Yami’s body to his cock. “ _Intense_ , huh.”

Yami covered his face with his hands. “Oh, shut up.”

“ _Really_ intense?”

“Kaiba - ”

“No, I appreciate the compliment - ”

“I will throw this water at you.”

Kaiba plucked the cup out of his hand. “No need to make this bed more of a mess.” He drained the glass and put it on the nightstand. “Sure you don’t need more water? Food?”

“Have you been body-snatched?” Yami demanded, dropping his hand from his face. “Stop being so solicitous. It’s creeping me out.”

“I just don’t want to announce to Yugi that I killed his best man mid-orgasm the night before his wedding,” Kaiba said. “It’s not totally out of character, but I do think it’s a bit much, even more me.”

Yami burst out laughing at that. “Gods I can’t even imagine. ‘Sorry, Yugi, but I killed Yami with my ass. Yes, Yugi, you heard that right -  my ass. In my defense it is a great ass.’”

“Yeah, don’t think that would end well for me.”

“Hmm, but what an ending,” Yami said, leaning back against the pillows. “That would be one way around telling Yugi about my sexuality.”

“True, if you were found dead banging me, the secret might come out,” Kaiba’s voice was so dry, Yami had to laugh.

Yami stopped, remembering - or rather, not remembering. “Did you come?”

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. “... Yes. You really were out of it, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” Yami apologized. “I really - I don’t remember much from the end. Maybe I’m just an incredibly selfish lover?” It was meant as a joke, but he wasn’t sure it landed as one.

Kaiba didn’t seem to notice. “Or you were getting pinned down and thrown around for the first time and it was too overwhelming to pay attention to anything else.” He lay down next to Yami, and now Yami was the one sitting up, staring down at Kaiba.

“Did you like it?” Kaiba asked. And there was no question what the “it” was Kaiba was asking about.

Yami paused before answering. There didn’t seem to be a good response. “I think - I think you were right earlier.”

 _Liked. What an interesting choice of words. When we’re done, you won’t say this was something you_ liked _._

“Of course,” Kaiba said, supremely confident. “About what in particular?”

“Ugh.”

Yami regrouped. “It wasn’t… something I _liked_. At all. I - ” and words deserted him for another moment. “I think you broke me.”

Silence, and anxiety waiting for Kaiba’s reply, the smug retort. But nothing came, except Kaiba reaching up to circle his waist. It occurred to Yami then that Kaiba was deliberately ceding the high ground to him, letting him be taller, higher, even if just by a few feet. He took another breath. “And it felt so… glorious to be broken. By you.”

“Well.” A longer pause. “You’re welcome.”

Heat filled him. Yami leaned down to kiss Kaiba, biting down on Kaiba’s lower lip until Yami could feel Kaiba tensing in his arms. “You’re so convinced you’re right all the time.”

“Ah, but I was right this time,” Kaiba said breathlessly.

“I will throw you out of this bed.”

“Empty threats,” Kaiba pulled him down for another kiss, a gentler one, softening Yami’s heat. “Was it good, Yami? That’s what I want to know.”

“You already know.”

“You haven’t said it.”

“ _Glorious_ isn’t saying it?”

Kaiba grinned. “That _was_ nice.”

Yami bit his lip. He was aware that he was baiting Kaiba, trying to get a rise out of him, trying to - what? Fight him? Ruin the moment?

The truth was, it had been so good. Too good. Far too good. He didn’t like to admit it.

“It was the best sex of my life.”

Kaiba drew in a sharp breath, then kissed Yami again.

“I didn’t think I’d be getting a superlative tonight.”

“Although you’re always aiming for one?”

“Of course.” And Kaiba’s easy confidence, the pride that shaded into arrogance, was so beautiful in that moment, because he’d earned all of it. He wore it easily now, Yami realized with a start. Before, his confidence had been his weapon. But in Yami’s bed, he wore it without pretense; less a weapon that could be taken away than a body part, integral to his soul.

When had that happened?

Yami resettled so he was laying against Kaiba, propped up on his elbow. “Hmm. On the other hand, you did pull half the muscles in my shoulder.”

“That’s all you,” Kaiba protested. “You like fighting back. I told you it would hurt.”

“Oh, but you like me fighting back,” Yami said. “Don’t you?”

Kaiba touched Yami’s shoulder. “That’s not untrue. I do.”

“You like it when I push up and try to escape and I _can’t_ , don’t you?”

“Well, when you put it in those terms…” Kaiba leaned up to kiss the center of Yami’s shoulder. The slight touch set off a shock of pain. “I do like when you fight. And I win.”

“Kaiba. Did you choose that position deliberately because I knew I would fight you?”

Kaiba rolled over, pressing his back against Yami’s chest. Yami felt a pinch in his sternum. “I’m shocked to hear you suggest something so mercenary, Yami.” A pause. “Most people don’t try to fight, you know. No matter how much they dislike the position. You’re a contrarian. I thought you might be.”

“I loved it,” Yami said honestly. He pulled the covers over their bodies, then gingerly wrapped his arms around Kaiba’s torso. Despite the sex, it felt like an imposition to touch him - and yet, Kaiba was the one who had pushed his body against Yami’s in the first place. They weren’t going to hold each other, now - Yami was just going to hold _him_. Yami envied Kaiba’s lack of self-consciousness - he felt like his heart was pounding out of his chest, even harder now than before they’d first kissed. “Is this all right?”

“Obviously.”

Obviously. Of course. Yami blinked a bit, then settled his arms more firmly around Kaiba. “That’s better,” Kaiba took Yami’s hand in his own. “Why are you so cold?”

“Sorry. My hands are almost always cold,” Yami said. He tried to pull his hand away to no avail.

“ New body glitches, huh?” Kaiba remarked, voice wrapped with sleep. Yami’s heart stuttered, going as cold as his hands for a frozen second.

He forced himself to relax. In comparison with his, Kaiba’s body was a furnace, a soothing heat.

“Kaiba,” Yami hesitated. “Are you serious about doing this again?”

“Of course,” Kaiba was massaging warmth into his hands now, and Yami could feel sleep coming to him. “I wouldn’t have offered only to leave you hanging.”

“Don’t you get bored with people, though?” Yami yawned - he knew he was saying nonsense, but he couldn’t quite stop himself. His filter gone once again.

“Ah,” Kaiba said. “But you already know my last name. I think I can make an exception.”

Yami made a pleased sound. That seemed logical.

Another thought floated up through the fog. “Kaiba?”

“Hmm.”

“Seeing you take my cock in one go was the single hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

A laugh from Kaiba. “Another superlative.” Kaiba interlaced his fingers with Yami’s.   
  
Yami thought he heard Kaiba say something else, but sleep was too close for him to hear. 

Darkness took him, and for once, there were no dreams. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've wanted to write Kaiba and Yami post-coital since I started this fic, so getting this chapter out feels so monumental, you have no idea. I love post-coital moments (even when, in this case, they lead to... more coitus) because everything's so out of sync from normal behavior, and everyone's tremendously vulnerable... it's just a lot of fun to think about and to write for. 
> 
> Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to the commenters and the people leaving kudos! I freak out with this story a lot, so you've just been so helpful when it comes to motivation <3\. 
> 
> The next chapter should be up around the 28th or the 4th, depending on *factors*.


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